CThey live in a time that seems to ask them to always be perfect and efficient. Their every choice, idea, action becomes an indicator that must be analysed. And while adults talk about them as a “fragile generation”, Gen Z boys and girls are just trying to find a balance possible between the fear of making mistakes and the desire to build a future that makes them happy. And behind what is often read as apathy, lies a silent vitality: the hope of being seen, heard, recognized.
Gen Z’s fear of failure: the Ipsos study for the Toniolo Youth Observatory
To restore the complexity of this internal world, it is a new study conducted by Ipsos for the Youth Observatory of the Giuseppe Toniolo Institute, which investigates the relationship of Italian adolescents with hope, fear of failure, empathy and moral values. The results will be presented on 18 October in Milan, during the third edition of “Parole a Scuola”, the free training day promoted by Parole O_Stili, together with the Catholic University and the Toniolo Institute. The event, it will offer an opportunity for teachers, parents and educators to listen and discuss: a space in which to try to really understand how today’s kids are doing.
The need for recognition, beyond social media
In short, anything but “social generation”. Many teenagers experience a significant internal battle between the desire to succeed and the fear of not being enough. School, which should be a place of growth, is instead often perceived as an environment of judgment. A mistake, a vote, even a careless comment, can become invisible wounds that undermine self-confidence.
Furthermore, according to Ipsos research, Hostile language, online or offline, takes a significant toll on self-esteem. Words, even those spoken without malice, can leave profound marks. This is what gives rise, for many young people, to the difficulty in accepting mistakes and taking refuge behind masks of indifference or arrogance.
Gen Z doesn’t want to be perfect, they want to be understood. Ipsos data shows the need for empathy and kind words that help us grow (Getty)
The fear of failure (and the courage to try anyway)
The study, conducted on a representative sample of 815 Italian adolescents between 14 and 19 years old, reveals how the fear of failure is a widespread and transversal feeling. The biggest fear? Feeling ashamed or embarrassed after a mistake, followed by the fear of disappointing those you love. Even in this case, school appears to be the place where fear weighs heaviest: a context where failure is often perceived not as an opportunity for learning, but as a stain on one’s value.
Gen Z, between fears and hope
But the picture is not just one of fears. In the midst of these insecurities, a bright fact emerges: young Italians have not lost hope. The research shows, in fact, high levels of “active hope”, understood according to Charles Snyder’s theory, as the ability to imagine different paths and find the inner drive to achieve one’s goals. The youngest, between 14 and 16 years old, are the most proactive and motivated. A sign that, despite everything, the desire to succeed resists, fueled by a sense of confidence that should be cultivated and recognized.
Moral values and empathy, rather than superficial generation
Again, against the image of a superficial generation, the data instead they tell of a surprising moral and emotional sensitivity. Ipsos found that the most heartfelt values are “caring and doing no harm”, justice and personal purity and integrity. Girls and the youngest, 14-16 years old, are the most attentive to these principlesjust as they show higher levels of empathy, both affective (understood as feeling with the other) and cognitive (understood as understanding the other). A very important signal that reveals how, behind the skepticism with which they are often described, Gen Z boys and girls carry within themselves a vision of the world in which care, justice and personal coherence remain central.
The responsibility of Words at school
It is precisely from this awareness that “Parole a Scuola” was born, now in its third edition: a project that puts language at the center as an educational and relational tool. On October 18th in Milan, at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milanat the headquarters of Largo Geminiteachers, parents and experts will discuss how words, spoken, written or silent, can support or hurt, build or isolate. Because, as research reminds us, kids today don’t ask for easy applause. They ask adults capable of accompanying them with respectready to see them for what they are: not a “fragile generation”, but a generation in search of trust.