3 GenZ Dad's on Their Current Parenting Worries

By Jody Bell

In a world that has been taken over by COVID-19, it’s difficult to think back to a time when parenting fears weren’t centered around a pandemic. When worries were nutrition and development, not the safety of returning to school nor balancing how comfortable yet protective your child’s face covering is. Yet, these pre-COVID-19 fears can’t be forgotten—they don’t simply disappear just because there is a new worry on parents’ minds.

Jennifer Openshaw spoke with 3 fathers to discuss these common fear; David Jimenez—President Actelion,  a Johnson & Johnson Co., Craig Archibald—Senior Project Manager at a mechanical engineering company, and Chris Curtain—Chief Branding Officer at VISA.  Each of these professionals is father to a Girls With Impact Graduate—an after-school, online program for teen girls teaching STEM, leadership, and business skills.

Here we heard about some of the major worries that these father’s face. From culture to technology, here is what they had to say.

The Dangers of Instant Gratification

As Curtain points out, “kids are hardwired to think about today.”

While this is a natural behavior, we live in a time defined by fast paced entertainment, and cellphones that deliver a constant stream of information.  This environment combined with the natural drive to lean towards the “now”  results in a heavy reliance on instant satisfaction. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Jimenez points out the importance of teaching your child how to “build the right foundation and care about the long-term rewards.” Kids need time to be kids; to be excited for playdates the next day and look forward to their favorite lunch between their classes—not dreading the climbing tuition costs at colleges. But they do need to be taught grit, and the ability to work towards goals that do not provide constant gratification and satisfaction. Curtain believes that this is a balancing act that transcends the mentality of both parents and children; “more adults need to live day to day, and more children need to think about the future.”

Losing Cultural Identities—Having an Identity in a Melting Pot

Archibald is an immigrant from the Caribbean—he fears his New York City-raised-daughter is losing touch with their shared culture.

This is a common sentiment, as 22% of GenZ has at least one immigrant parent. Schools are becoming more culturally diverse than ever—small melting pots within each class. Yet, during all this cultural exchange it can be difficult for children to devote the time needed to thoroughly explore their own cultural identities. Therefore it is absolutely crucial for parents to spend time speaking about their backgrounds—what it was like living outside of the country, and how their culture fits into the history of the United States.

For some families, these are set meetings to learn about culture, and for others, they are simply dinnertime discussions. Whatever your family choses, it is crucial to remember that this is an opportunity to expose and educate your child, but not to force it upon them. With a generation so keen on developing their own identities and beliefs, cultural exposure truly does become a balancing act.

Technology Use—Where is the Balance?

While the internet is fueling the powerful activism behind GenZ, it is also keeping children locked away with eyes glued to various screens for hours at a time.

As playdates are replaced by texting and gaming sessions, the percentage of children seeing their friends on a daily basis dropped by 40%. Not to mention the self-esteem issues that come with social media use and physical changes being observed in the eyesight and posture of technology users. Every father on the call expressed varying degrees of both worry and admiration for their child’s technology use—proving that every family has a different relationship with technology. However your family treats technology, it is always a good idea to have clear and transparent limits, and to encourage good technological habits both physically and emotionally. This includes being a good technological citizen, staying safe online, and learning the ergonomic habits to prevent eye/back pain.

With a raging pandemic on the loose, it can be easy to forget about our pre-COVID parenting fears—not the number of layers on your child’s masks, but issues pertaining to your child’s development. These are the issues and fears that will not wait until COVID-19 subsides to hinder your child’s emerging identity. Thus, it is crucial that both fathers and mothers are aware of each other’s fears, and the fears of the surrounding parenting community. This awareness is crucial to progressing child development amid a pandemic—which is most definitely no easy task.

Jody Bell, 19, is Girls With Impact’s Chief Editor and a program graduate. Girls With Impact is the nation’s only online, after-school, entrepreneurship program for teen girls, turning them into tomorrow’s business leaders and innovators.