Our Thank You Note

We’re Gen-Z, the luckiest generation,

We’ve got phones, Wifi, the best education.

We are so grateful for this world you’ve built us,

A world full of voices – but we can’t discuss.

So thank you for our Instagram, our Snapchat,

Truly, to you I tip my hat.

Thank you for your advertisements built of lies,

Thank you for teaching young girls to tape up their thighs.

Thank you for the dislike button and hateful reviews,

It’s the greatest gift and we can’t refuse.

Sometimes I wonder how I get it all for free,

A world of apps and entertainment without a fee.

Until I realize the real payment is me.

But hey, how lucky we are,

To have fun with friends from afar.

Our parents never had that luxury

They say it all the time to me

So I know I should be filled with gratitude,

I should be content in a joyful mood.

But all the TikToks and iPhone updates,

Can’t hide Gen-Z’s got top suicide rates

And all the hysterical videos Youtube can proudly produce,

Can’t take down the tutorials of how to tie a noose.

We can’t just ignore all the online abuse that occurs,

Because let's Be Real, predators are your top customers.

So you’ll sign a child protection law and call it a day,

You’re not the abuser - so it's all okay.

So take our information home to exploit,

You put it on Terms and Conditions - you’ve made your point.

Hooray to you, you’re the savviest businessman,

You’ve got the lowest risk profit plan.

Make money off our insecurities,

Sell us makeup for all our impurities.

Get us hooked on followers and views,

Feed us lies and fake news.

You really are brilliant, 

Evil, corrupt, resilient.

You’ll shake your heads and call us “screenagers”,

Like you forgot we aren’t the creators.

You’ve swapped us phones for pacifiers,

Fed us lies and called us liars.

But honestly we know you mean well,

You’ve created a world where we can now all excel.

As long as we stay put,

Contained under your submissive spell.

So Thank You, 

For all your gifts and technology,

It’s not as though we’re expecting apology.

Thank you for our Instagram followers, our TikTok clout

Thank you for our addictions, our constant Fear of Missing Out.

Thank you for our nights spent alone, for AI with a voice,

And most of all Thank You

For never giving us the choice.