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This article is part of\u00a0Upstream,<\/a>\u00a0The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.<\/em><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n In case you\u2019ve missed it, \u201990s culture is trending big time. And not just the Y2K fashion that\u2019s been gracing the runway for some time now. We\u2019re talking <\/span>Furbies<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Tamagotchi toys<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>waterbeds<\/span><\/a>, and resurrected <\/span>\u201990s kids\u2019 bedrooms<\/span><\/a>; basically, all things \u201990s childhood are trending. And while millennials are certainly on board, the \u201990s resurgence is being driven in large part by Gen Z.<\/span><\/p>\n Why is a generation of young people obsessed with a decade they never even lived in or, for the few born in the late \u201990s, are too young to remember? As a mom right on the cusp of Gen Z myself, I think Gen Z\u2019s fascination with \u201990s childhoods offers some warnings about the way that we\u2019re raising children in the new millennium. I don\u2019t believe Gen Z\u2019s \u201990s obsession is random; I believe it\u2019s because young adults are yearning for something they never had: a full childhood, filled with play and adventure, and a meaningful transition into adulthood, embracing all the responsibilities that growing up should entail.<\/span><\/p>\n Several months ago, the New York Times published an <\/span>op-ed<\/span><\/a> suggesting that the obsession with \u201990s nostalgia is the result of Gen Z wrestling with technological overreach in their lives. And this is indeed part of the \u201990s allure. Though Gen Z youth may be the most phone-savvy and online generation ever, they are weary of the digital era, and the resurrected \u201990s trends offer just that screen-free safe haven. But I think Gen Z\u2019s fascination with all things \u201990s is more than just a response to tech overreach, especially considering many Gen Z youth were robbed of the full childhoods that they envision millennials enjoyed.<\/span><\/p>\n The permanence of what kids now post online, as well as the dangers that come along with the internet, have forced Gen Z children to grow up too fast, demanding a maturity that millennials did not have to worry about as acutely. Social media \u201clikes\u201d and \u201cfollowers\u201d make popularity hierarchies all the more oppressive at younger and younger ages. The digital weight of the modern world, which Gen Z shouldered at a far younger age than millennials, is compounded by less time spent playing and more time scrolling. Gen Z spends <\/span>less time outdoors<\/span><\/a> than previous generations, to the detriment of childhood exploration and adventuring.<\/span><\/p>\n Another factor, and one that poses a significant deviation from most millennial upbringings, is the breakout of helicopter parenting. The impression that young people are ill-prepared for real life is an unfortunate stereotype that helicopter parenting has bequeathed Gen Z. One of the more revealing illustrations of this over-involved parenting is the number of Gen Z young adults who are <\/span>bringing their parents to job interviews<\/span><\/a> and having them negotiate salaries on their behalf. Yes, you read that right: Gen Z young adults are bringing their parents along for job interviews and salary negotiations, and this interference of parents in their children\u2019s workplaces is common enough that it has been given the term \u201ccareer co-piloting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n With overbearing parenting like that, the trial, error, and adventure that should constitute a healthy adolescence are absent in many Gen Z upbringings, and it\u2019s no surprise they look at the dawn-till-dusk bike riding escapades of \u201990s kids with a mix of wonder and nostalgia. It makes sense that Gen Z would romanticize a childhood with the independence, adventure, and screen-free play they did not get to enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n But there\u2019s an important flip side to the coin: while in many ways robbed of the fullness of childhood adventuring and play, Gen Z is simultaneously reticent to embrace adulthood responsibilities. Members of Gen Z, by and large, are taking less responsibility than millennials and previous generations. <\/span>They are more likely to\u00a0defer<\/a> obtaining a driver\u2019s license or not apply for one at all.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>They are prone to avoiding social obligations and are notoriously\u00a0non-committal<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0And more Gen Z young adults are still <\/span>living at home<\/span><\/a> than in previous generations.<\/span><\/p>\n Recall that Gen Zers are willingly <\/span>bringing their parents<\/span> to job interviews. Parents are micromanaging the lives of Gen Z through adulthood and into the workplace, and Gen Z is complicit. Gen Z\u2019s reticence to assume adult responsibility is no doubt connected to helicopter parenting, which not only robs children of childhood escapades and adventure but also stunts their maturity and handicaps their self-agency into adulthood. While I\u2019m no psychologist, <\/span>I don\u2019t think it\u2019s coincidental that a generation reluctant to grow up has found solace in \u201990s toys and childhood memorabilia. <\/span>Gen Z\u2019s fascination with \u201990s nostalgia may be flattering to millennials, but it\u2019s also a sad echo of Gen Z\u2019s apathy toward their own coming of age.<\/span><\/p>\n While there is nothing wrong with \u201990s nostalgia, its popularity among young people harbors a subtle warning about the importance of a distinct childhood and adulthood, of both letting kids have gratifying childhoods and shepherding children as they come of age to understand and embrace the full responsibilities of adulthood. Children deserve childhoods filled with plenty of play and adventuring, liberated from the bondage of social media and bottomless online distractions, and they deserve more than helicopter parenting that instills fear and unhealthy dependence as they become adults.<\/span><\/p>\n As children mature, they benefit greatly from the transfer of more responsibility, allowing for failure, hardship, and difficulty. Rather than assure them that mom and dad are ready to assume any and all of life\u2019s hurdles (like an intimidating job interview), we need to do a better job at instilling young adults with the awareness that their life is theirs, and theirs alone, to direct. The lack of agency in today\u2019s young people is not an inconsequential issue, either; personal responsibility is integral to good citizenship, and our democracy depends on youth becoming productive, self-driven adults. So let Gen Z\u2019s fascination with all things \u201990s be a gentle reminder of the truth behind the maxim \u201clet kids be kids\u201d \u2014 to which I would also add that adults ought to be adults, too.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n