Fresh research from the past 20 years has delivered an unexpected encouraging result: Generation Z, raised on smartphones, TikTok and endless stories, has turned out to be the most law-abiding generation in the history of observations. Compared with baby boomers, the number of burglaries fell by 86%; compared with Generation X, by 84%; and even compared with millennials, by 71%.
The explanation is simple: fewer face-to-face meetings mean fewer joint bad ideas. In the past, you would go out with friends, and then there would be peer pressure, spontaneous decisions, a fence, a garage, an adventure. And now? You go out... in Minecraft. And the most you can steal is resources from another player. And even that is within the rules.
Experts call this a “decline in co-offending.” That is because in the past, most teenage offences were committed in company. Now everyone is at home on their own, and the most joint activity is a Friday stream.
The decline is especially noticeable in property crimes: burglaries, car thefts, thefts. But when it comes to serious crimes, the differences between generations are not so large. Other factors come into play here: access to weapons, drugs and harmful influences from the internet. Even so, the trend is encouraging. Fewer crimes in youth mean a lower chance that a person will later end up in the dock. In other words, digital children could potentially become the most peaceful adult generation.
Of course, no one is denying the obvious downsides: loneliness, anxiety, a lack of face-to-face communication. But here is the paradox: less social interaction means less crime. What would you choose for your child? A dubious night-time walk, or a cosy evening chat with friends on Telegram?
