How the digital world shapes Gen Z and Gen Alpha

GROWING UP WITH VIOLENCE

- PROFESSOR ARADHANA RAMNUND-MANSINGH

GENDER-BASED violence (GBV) remains one of the most persistent and devastating crises of our time. In South Africa, the femicide rate is about five times higher than the global average, and the country has consistently recorded some of the highest GBV statistics in the world. This reality is not new. What is new is how young people encounter, interpret and respond to violence in a world where the boundaries between reality and digital space are almost invisible.

Gen Z is the first generation to grow up with GBV not only happening around them but also appearing on their screens in real time. They are not introduced to the reality of violence gradually or through controlled channels. They encounter it through viral social media clips, commentary threads filled with hostility, leaked screenshots of abusive conversations, emergency alerts circulated on WhatsApp, and community warnings shared across neighbourhood groups.

The World Health Organization reports that one in three women globally has experienced physical or sexual violence. This statistic is significant for Gen Z because they encounter it not as an abstract global figure but through personalised stories that circulate rapidly across the platforms they use daily. This constant exposure shapes how they understand safety, danger and relationships. Social media algorithms push content that attracts engagement, and GBV-related stories often create intense emotional reactions. The result is a generation that receives a steady stream of visual and auditory evidence of harm.

Their understanding of violence is immediate, graphic and personal. They do not wait for the evening news because their news arrives minute by minute through the devices they hold in their hands. The saturation of digital violence interacts with another formative part of Gen Zs life.

Gaming