Culture and faith are shaped as generation gives way to generation. The Youth Boom explained.

CRAIG KENNET MILLER
Discipleship Ministries

Youth Booms area a phenomena that happens about every 18 years, when the leading edge (the oldest members) of the youngest generation turns 18 and are seniors in high school. A youth boom signals the beginning of a seven-year time period when a generation exerts its influence over a whole culture.

With the events unfolding after the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, are we witnessing the start of Generation Z’s youth boom?

Youth Booms Past

Boomer Youth Boom: 1964 to 1971: The Beatles, Anti-war movement, Women’s rights, Civil rights, Sex, Drugs, & Rock’n’Roll.

Generation X Youth Boom: 1986 to 1993: Challenger Disaster, Berlin Wall, MTV,  Latch-Key Kids, Grunge, Hip Hop, Postmodern

Millennials Youth Boom: 2004 to 2011: Facebook, Perpetual wars, the Great Recession, American Idol, Pop Punk, R&B, Hipsters

Generation Z Youth Boom: 2018: Parkland shootings, Screens, Tech revolution/evolution,  Streaming,  A new kind of diversity

Listen to the podcast

Join Craig Kennet Miller, author of iKids: Parenting in the Digital Age and Boomer Spirituality: Seven values for the Second Half of Life and Chris Wilterdink, co-author of Building Spiritual Muscle and author of Everyday Disciples: Covenant Discipleship with Youth as they unpack the emergence of Generation Z and look at youth booms past in the first of a four-part series on Youth Boom.

Miller is also the Director of Congregational Development at Discipleship Ministries and Wilterdink is Director of Young People’s Ministries Program Development in the United States, at Discipleship Ministries.

Download a free study guide you can use with youth, young adults, and adults: The Future Of…The-New-Youth-Boom-Pt.-1-Voice-Study-Guide

 

Click here to go to the Discipleship Ministries website for Part 2, The New Youth Boom: Screens.

Last Updated on November 1, 2023