It’s Time to Talk About the ‘Fragile Generation’… I Think They Might Be Onto a Few Things

It’s Time to Talk About the ‘Fragile Generation’…
... I Think They Might Be Onto a Few Things

They’re called “soft,” “fragile,” and “too sensitive.” But what if that’s exactly what the world needs right now? This blog explores how Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s empathy, awareness, and emotional intelligence could be the antidote to a hardened world.

There is a growing narrative floating around that Gen Z and Gen Alpha are too soft, too sensitive, too easily overwhelmed, too unwilling to tolerate the grind. The words vary, but the sentiment is the same. They aren’t like “us”. They don’t work like “us”. They aren’t resilient. They don’t “handle things” the way previous generations did.

And every time I hear it, I think… while this obviously isn’t across the board, because nothing ever is, I have experienced this to some degree a few times. But I also find myself wondering if this sensitivity might actually lead to something good. And to be clear, there are quirks and challenges in every generation throughout human history.

Before we talk about Gen Z and Gen Alpha, I think it’s important to talk about my own generation, the Xennials. We came up in a strange in-between space. We weren’t born with technology in our hands, but we grew up with it arriving in waves. VHS, cassette tapes, CDs, dial-up internet, flip phones, smartphones, social media, streaming, AI. We lived through the entire transition, not as observers, but as participants. We’re the ones who went from rewinding movies with a pencil to navigating adulthood in the age of hyperconnectivity.

Millennials sit right beside us. They weren’t the creators of the problems that came before, and they didn’t drive the extreme capitalism or media chaos that shaped their early years, with Meta being the exception since Mark Zuckerberg is a Xennial or Millennial. But they inherited all of it and tried to adapt in real time. Millennials and Xennials became a bridge generation, carrying the weight of what came before while beginning the slow work of course correcting. We’ve absorbed a lot, adjusted a lot, and tried to make sense of a world that accelerated faster than anyone was prepared for.

Which brings us to the younger generations, the ones now being called fragile. They were handed a world built long before they arrived, a world that’s noisy, overstimulating and operating far beyond the limits of any healthy nervous system. A world shaped by constant comparison through social media, by algorithmic pressure to perform, by economic systems that reward burnout and punish rest. A world where extreme capitalism is celebrated, where climate change keeps accelerating, and where corporations influence politics with budgets that rival the GDP of small countries.

So when someone says Gen Z is too soft, I often think now… maybe softness is an appropriate response to what they’ve inherited. Maybe it makes sense that the kids paying the price for this world are saying this isn’t working for them.

What I see isn’t fragility, it’s awareness. I see a generation that’s grown up watching the consequences of a go-go-go culture and is quietly refusing to repeat the pattern. Their softness isn’t a flaw. It’s a sign they’re paying attention.

I think about Meta making sixteen billion dollars in a single year from scam ads that prey on fear, confusion and the vulnerable. I think about news outlets that rarely check facts before publishing because speed and clicks outrank accuracy. I think about political narratives shaped by corporate lobbying rather than public good. And I think about the climate data that becomes more urgent every year, yet somehow leadership still defaults to the least disruptive path.

If the older generations built a world where profit outweighed responsibility, is it really surprising that younger generations are pushing back with a different set of values?

What I see in Gen Z and Gen Alpha isn’t weakness. I see emotional intelligence. I see boundaries. I see people walking away from systems that don’t care for them. I see open conversations about mental health that were unthinkable not long ago. I see intentionality in how they work, consume, and engage.

Maybe they want different things. Maybe they measure success differently. Maybe they want their lives to feel meaningful, and their work to reflect their values. And if that means they’re not willing to grind themselves into dust for someone else’s bottom line, maybe that’s not fragility, maybe that’s wisdom.

Older generations often say, “Back in my day, we just pushed through.” But pushing through created consequences too. It led to burnout, disconnection, and a culture where exhaustion was treated like a badge of honour instead of a warning sign.

Gen Z watched all of that unfold. They lived through recessions, pandemics, political division, misinformation and a climate crisis. Through it all, they developed a collective instinct that maybe the old way isn’t the only way.

When I talk with younger people, I see a generation that’s thoughtful and observant. They question assumptions. They value transparency. They care about community and belonging. And they’re far more willing to hold companies, institutions and governments accountable.

That isn’t weakness. It’s discernment.

It makes sense that a generation raised in chaos has developed a stronger internal compass. They know their limits because they’ve had to. They aren’t fragile, they’re responding appropriately to their environment. And honestly, we could learn from them.

We could benefit from slowing down, pausing and paying attention. From choosing presence over productivity. From seeing rest as part of sustainability. From valuing humanity as much as efficiency. From being more selective about what we consume, chase and allow into our minds.

They aren’t perfect, just like no generation is. But they’re willing to look inward, ask hard questions, name what hurts and resist what harms. We’ve built a society that moves too fast and demands too much. A softer generation isn’t a problem to fix, it’s an evolution to pay attention to. A reminder that humanity isn’t a resource to mine, but a quality to protect.

So maybe instead of criticising them for being fragile, we should ask ourselves why they needed to become so strong in the first place.

Let’s start valuing the qualities that help us move forward, not just the ones that kept us moving in the past. #GetRoaming and let’s build a tourism economy that embraces empathy, curiosity, and the kind of leadership that makes space for people to thrive.

Yours in tourism, innovation and startups,

Founder & CEO
Roamlii