Generation Z: Their Voices, Their Lives

About the Book

Featured on the Podcast You Don't Know Me hosted by Chloe Combi - an exploration into the lives of global Gen Z

'An important and timely book. These are voices that need to be heard.' - Anthony Horowitz

The world is changing by the day. Today's teenagers are growing up in a world of widening social inequality, political apathy and economic uncertainty.

They join gangs, and are kind.
They're obese, and they're more health-conscious than any generation before.
They have underage sex, and they're less likely to get pregnant young.
They drink, and they go teetotal.
They watch porn, and they shun it.
They go to church, and they have no religion.
They're a menace to society. They are society.

Curious, creative and worried about the future, Generation Z have grown up in a world of unprecedented connection, and ever-increasing division. Chloe Combi has travelled around the UK, talking with teenagers from all kinds of backgrounds about their lives, their fears and their dreams, uncovering some truly surprising stories about a generation often stereotyped and dismissed.

Told in their voices, Generation Z is a shocking, enlightening and funny portrait of how it feels to be young in modern Britain, and what it takes to survive and thrive on the journey to adulthood.

About the Author :
Chloe Combi is a former school teacher. She is a columnist for the Times Educational Supplement, and also writes for the Independent, Guardian, Marie Claire and the New Statesman. She’s a regular on TV and radio debates including Channel 4 News, Newsnight, Sky News and Woman’s Hour. An article she wrote on pornography and children in 2012 precipitated a major national debate and she has been quoted by David Cameron in the House of Commons. Her work on child poverty, gangland culture and street violence granted her an invite to No. 10 and she is a consultant on youth issues for the Mayor of London. Her youth project, Write Club, has had interest from UK documentary makers.

Review :
Every politician seeking election next month should read this book. I think it taught me as much about our country as anything I have ever read An important and timely book. These are voices that need to be heard. The book gives educators much to consider . . . The greatest value of GENERATION Z is a reminder of all that we love about our students – their humanity, their kindness, their moments of strength, their insights. It’s easy to see the echoes of students in our own classrooms; beyond the disrupters, preeners and attention-seekers, there are human beings going through tremendous changes. I found it a refreshing, confronting and heartfelt reminder of why I came into the classroom. An important and deeply revealing book showcasing what it is really like to be a teenager in the twenty-first century. Thrillingly candid interviews with ‘Generation Z’ display all their fixations, their humour, and the frightening power of technology in their pockets. . . . her revealing interviews offer their own conclusions on a generation often misunderstood and misrepresented. There aren’t many books like GENERATION Z . . .Chloe Combi turns real stories of young life into a compelling read. an unflinching, enlightening, funny and often disturbing exploration into the minds of today's teenagers; … compulsive and illuminating… It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. Most importantly, it will make you angry. It’s an effortless political manifesto. This book will challenge everything you thought you knew about growing up as part of Generation Z.