People confess 10 unique reasons why Gen Z makes them feel 'hopeful'

Gen Z has a reputation for being overtly unprofessional, rude, and disconnected from the real world. However, not everything about them is absurd. In fact, when a Reddit user (u/theeonlystardust) asked the older generation to share reasons why Gen Z makes them feel 'hopeful,' the response was truly wholesome. From being open-minded to working towards achieving work-life balance, people went all out to rightfully praise them for setting new benchmarks.  

1. Gen Z is very open-minded

"My kids are Gen Z, and I really appreciate how open-minded they are. They respect people’s preferred pronouns; they don’t care about a person’s gender or sexual orientation — it’s about their character. They also understand the system is rigged, and they want to do their part to fix it." — u/hmouse65

"I work with kids and many young starting-out teachers. The kids are way kinder to people who have needs different from them than my generation was. The younger people have boundaries at the get-go. It took me like 20 years to establish work boundaries." — u/teacherlady3

2. No compromise on work-life balance

"I love that the younger generations fight vociferously for a good work-life balance. We need 4-day workweeks, more remote work opportunities, better benefits, etc, and the younger generations don’t seem to relent on pushing for these." — u/budget-purple-6519

3. Zero tolerance for injustice

"This summer, I talked with my grandma, and she said to me that in her generation and before, all young people had to do all the things their parents said (one of them being arranged marriages). This new generation has its own opinion and doesn't tolerate injustice." — u/dry_imagination1763

4. Demanding respect and dignity

"They can be very hardworking and will go the extra mile for you if you explain to them why something needs to be done and what it will accomplish. If they do a good job, let them know. My generation got told, 'Because I said so!' The new generation is not going to put up with that, and they will go somewhere where they are respected. They are also more tolerant and accepting of people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and personal lifestyle choices." — u/crafty_pineapple7263

5. Being truly 'inclusive'

"How sensitive and kind they are. I think most of them are born more sensitive to emotional nuance than the previous generations, or maybe they're just more aware of what's kind and what's not now because of social media. I see less exclusivity now in the younger ones—more willingness to include everyone, as long as the adults also model that behavior, anyway." — u/weak_refrigerator_85

6. They are super smart

"I think about how smart they're becoming; just these past few days, I've read about two or three child prodigies, 13 years old with an IQ of 162. Imagine how much they can contribute to society." — u/vegetablehuman6316

7. Unafraid to question authority

"As a Millennial, I feel like our generation was paralyzed with fear and indecision, and in a way, it made us grow up a lot slower. I hope that this generation looks at us and says, 'Nope, we’re taking control now.' You already see it with their unwillingness to put up with bullshit at work that we never questioned." — u/avantgarde_fart_jazz

8. Choosing 'gentle parenting' over harsh punishments

"I saw a post about someone's PS5 that had been scribbled on by a 3-year-old with the comment, 'You find out your kid did this. What do you do?' 99% of the comments were about them having a conversation about 'crayons are for paper,' taking away the crayons for a reasonable amount of time as punishment and potentially a time-out, and then trying to find a way to preserve the kids' art without ruining the PS5. Like none of them felt like spanking was an option here, a few of them said they would scream or yell, and only a small (greatly downvoted) handful said any worse punishments." — u/ruathar

9. Ousting outdated societal norms

"They rebel against following social and societal rules just because people tell you to follow them." — u/lowball5884

"They don't worship tradition just because it's old. Good sign for progress." — u/NSFW_Librarian

10. Creating opportunities for others

"Although the world is really f*cked up, things have still gotten a lot better since I was a kid. My daughter is going to have a lot more opportunities with a lot less fighting for basic human rights/treatment than I or my mother did." — u/TomorrowOk3161

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