Deflecting through jokes

According to psychology teacher Sarah Lindenberg, immediate reliance on humor during traumatic situations is a way for social media users to cope with serious situations.

“It can be a defense mechanism, a way of dealing with it that may not be appropriate, but it is a way that people seem to deal with situations,” Lindenberg said. “At-large, the social media culture that we have these days is just a quick flash of catching people’s attention.”

According to senior Mia Miller, she believes Gen-Z’s responses to serious events are adequate.

“It’s a good way for (our generation) to cope because that’s the way we cope, by making jokes,” Miller said.

Lindenberg said the lack of understanding of serious events is derived from social media, which particularlly affects Gen-Z.

“A product of social media is a lack of critical thinking or reading and rationalizing things that’s plaguing Gen-Z because they’ve grown up with it,” Lindenberg said.