While we might often time kick against young boys and girls spending too much time on their smartphones and the internet, most of them do this just to stay recognized and happy. We now live in a world where basically everything can be done on our smart devices; ordering food, booking a ride, dating, shopping, and learning. Many Generation Z is more vocal than ever, they are always ready to share their problems with anyone on the internet who will not shame or mock them.
The thing in vogue now is this, apart from their real personal social media accounts, they create a private account or as it is called ‘burner account‘ where they can share whatever is on their mind. This is to prove that if we want more from our students, especially when they are not comfortable talking face-to-face, having a chatbox may be the solution to solve such a problem. Students are more comfortable when communicating and opening up to a chatbot.
This generation of students is most likely to open up to non-emotional chats or robots that don’t judge or have a reaction, especially when the context of the talk is personal to them. When a Gen Z boy or girl opens up to an adult and they get a negative reaction from such person, they always tend to withdraw from having such discussion with anyone again.
This is why most of them, even when struggling with things like finances, family issues, drugs, addiction, or mental problems, do not talk and this often leads to the student dropping out from school or even committing suicide. You can now understand why it may be hard for students to open up face-to-face to an advisor or school counselor regarding some extremely personal issues, most especially when they are essentially strangers.
With a solution like a chatbox, students can be in their comfort zone, be it at home or in their hostel when expressing themselves. They can get as personal as they like without feeling guilty, knowing that the conversation is private and that they will not have embarrassed or judged for expressing themselves face-to-face.
Since students won’t come out to talk about their problems, communicating digitally will help the school identify struggling students before the issue escalates. With the adoption of technology, schools can now provide early intervention to problems that students are facing without having to wait till they drop out or start failing drastically. Instead of using pointers like this, which oftentimes are signs of a bigger problem, communicate regularly with students via ways that they are more comfortable with.
This will help a school administrator or staff of school work with the students so they can provide needed support and assistance for them to continue their academics.
Is this the way?
Students have been failing in school because most administrators rely on pointers like dropping grades and continuous absence from school. As Gen Z starts to enter tertiary institutions, the use of technology will take the bigger chunk of their communication life, and it is crucial to let them know their voices are heard via these channels. By showing and offering more modern ways to communicate with the students, their comfort will impact their experience and school retention rate positively.
