Generation Z subverting the ‘lazy’ stereotype

THE rest of us call them lazy and entitled, and they have had enough. These teenagers actually have some pretty good reasons to shut us up.

THESE teenagers are turning the stereotype of the younger generation being lazy and entitled on its head.

Jessica Santucci, 18, worked four nights a week and Saturdays at Woolworths in Melbourne in her final year of school, essentially holding down a fulltime job on top of her studies.

“I was often working a 38-hour week, and knocking shifts back because I’d worked too much,” she told news.com.au. “Year 11 was harder for me than Year 12, I think because I was completing Year 12 bio while doing all the other Year 11 subjects. It was definitely worth it because I seriously didn’t find Year 12 to be as demanding. I dropped a subject because I didn’t need it, had already passed bio, so that enabled me to work more, which I did.”

As well as holding down a fulltime job and studying, Jess played on a football team and regularly socialised with friends.

“I love the working world and the people I’ve come to know as friends not just colleagues. I fit in really well. I guess I enjoy adult conversations and the stimulus of being in an environment where I can actually do something useful and get paid for it.

“I know the teachers said that I was a student they could see was definitely ‘over’ school. Ready to move on, more than ready.”

Tom Forrest has lived alone since the age of 16, paying his rent and bills and cooking for himself.

Jess hopes to continue working at Woolworths and dreams of one day being in the army.

“Labelling the younger generation as a whole as being lazy or entitled really annoys me to say the least,” she said. “That is such a generalisation and clearly I am not one of those. I also have many friends and colleagues who would disagree with that statement.

“Sure, I don’t deny there are many out there like that, which is part of the reason I struggled at school. I was always keen to get things finished so I could move on, even if I didn’t know exactly what I was moving on to.

“Life is for living, you can sleep when you’re dead, that’s what my mum says.”

Tom Forrest, who appears with Jess in new ABC series My Year 12 Life, says he feels the same. He moved out of home at 16, while still at school, working in a 24-hour petrol station and at a pizza place to help him pay rent, starting at 5.15am.

“Year 12 (was) amazing, I did so many things,” he told news.com.au. “There were times it was hard. I wanted to get to school, take photos, get to work 5-9pm, hang with friends and get to sleep in time to get up.

“There were plenty of times I wanted to do more but I couldn’t.”

Most of his friends in Kununurra, Western Australia, also had after-school jobs, but they were able to save because their parents provided free food and accommodation. Tom’s mum had moved to Perth, and the teenager decided he would go it alone.

“I felt I could do it,” he said. “I really did an impulse move. It was fun every day, I got to see friends and do things I loved.

“What did bug me was the bonds. How do I pull out $500? Trying to get a good system to eat every day for a good price and be healthy was a challenge.

“It’s prepared me for moments when I do finish school, paying bills and rent, I know how to do it. It’s been a normal thing for me.

“I’ve got friends four or five years ahead of me who still live at home.”

Tom says he is open to opportunities for his future, but one thing is certain, he doesn’t think his generation is lazy.

“Everyone’s going forward being productive,” he said. “I think older people are still stuck back in the day sometimes.

“In my dreams, I’m living wherever I want, doing what I want to do, having as much fun as possible.”