The Watched Generation: How Gen Z Is Helping "1984" Become Reality

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If George Orwell were alive today, he wouldn’t need to imagine 1984. He’d just scroll TikTok.

He’d see the cameras watching our doors, our schools, our streets, and notice something he never predicted: the youngest generation doesn’t fear Big Brother. They welcome him, at least a little.

A recent Cato Institute/YouGov survey found that nearly 30% of Gen Z say they would support government-installed cameras inside homes if it meant greater safety. While it’s important to note that this exact number hasn’t been replicated elsewhere, the sentiment does capture a deeper truth about the world Gen Z inherited: they feel safest when they’re being seen.

I think back to my own high-school computer lab. Our teacher had a monitoring program that let her view every student’s screen. She could move our mouse, lock our keyboard, or send a message that filled the monitor in bright red letters. I remember thinking it was incredible! That level of control was unprecedented. This was before Wi-Fi, before smartphones, before our lives were lived in cybersphere. At that time, every computer was still tethered to the wall by an Ethernet cord.

For Gen Z, those cords were cut, but the watching never stopped.

A Generation Raised Under Watchful Eyes

From the moment they were born, Gen Z was on camera.

Think about it…video baby monitors watched their cribs. Doorbell cameras recorded their first steps. Their schools installed CCTV “for safety.” Their parents downloaded Find My Friends and Life360 so that they could confirm that their child had arrived home.

According to research cited by Scientific American and Axios, between 50% and 84% of U.S. parents now use digital tracking to monitor where their kids are. Eight in ten check their children’s location with more than half of those parents admitting to checking frequently. My favorite stat is that a third of parents do it without telling their child.

Surveillance has become the modern lullaby, not for the kids. It helps parents sleep at night!

Gen Z has never known true independence in the way earlier generations did.
Boomers and Gen X roamed freely until the streetlights flickered on. Their parents didn’t wait at the bus stop with snacks. They trusted the world, and their kids, to figure it out. Responsibility rested on the individual. You were expected to be good for the community.

Today, the expectation has flipped. It is as if the expectation is that the community, or maybe the governing authorities, exists to keep the individual safe.

Safety, Truth, and the Mirror on the Wall

Walk into any Walmart and you’ll see your own face reflected on a monitor above the entrance. The message is clear: Smile, you’re on camera. (And now Walmart is experimenting with Body Cams…that’s for another essay).

Gen Z grew up under that mirror. Ring doorbells, store CCTV, and omnipresent phone lenses have taught them that being watched can deter harm. Surveillance has been reframed as safety.

And that framing fits their moral lens.

McKinsey’s 2023 generational analysis describes Gen Z’s values as equity and accountability. Deloitte’s 2024 Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that 77% of Gen Z believe their generation will “hold others accountable.” United Way’s 2023 Gen Z Activism Survey reports that roughly one in three participates in social-justice or activism efforts, more than any previous generation at the same age.

They are, by data and by instinct, a justice-oriented generation.

They’ve witnessed how cameras can expose truth. From police body-cam footage, livestreamed protests, the viral videos that sparked movements from #MeToo to George Floyd, to most recently, footage of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. In their world, video doesn’t just record events; it delivers justice.

Here is the irony. Gen Z does not fully trust government. In fact, in Gallup’s 2023 Gen Z Panel found record-low institutional trust. They beat out even Gen X for distrust of governement and authority. However, more than previous generations, Gen Z places a high trust and value in information. Proof has become their proxy for belief. If the camera caught it, it’s real. It’s the Millennial version of a relationship being “Facebook Official.” If your relationship status on Facebook didn’t change, then you were not really in a valid relationship.

Verify So I Can Trust

Pew Research (2023) found that 71% of Americans worry about how the government uses data. However, younger adults (namely Gen Z and Millennials) express less alarm, especially when oversight is framed as a security issue. They’ve traded “trust but verify” for “verify so I can trust.”

They’re pragmatic. They know the cost of convenience and speed. By trading their data, they get a curated feed, personalized ads, and even automatic alerts on when to leave and what route to take to the places they frequent. But Millennials and Gen Z both are often okay with allowing this tracking. They call it what it is, “the price to play.”

Even at work, this pattern holds. Gen Z expects open salaries, transparent communication, and data-driven accountability. They’ll accept monitoring software or cameras if the same visibility applies to leadership. Surveillance is tolerable when it feels reciprocal. They believe in transparency in nearly every facet. For example, 55% of Gen Zers say it’s important that their employer aligns with their social or political beliefs (NC United Way, 2023). A surprising 60% of U.S. adults believe that CEOs of large companies have a responsibility to take a stand on societal issues as well (Just Capital, 2024). Gone are the days when keeping politics, religion, and other taboo topics out of the workplace was considered proper etiquette. We’ve done a complete 180.

The New Definition of Freedom

Here is an important distinction: Gen Z isn’t asking to be watched for fun. They’re asking to be protected, to know someone is paying attention. This shows how dramatically this generation has shifted.

It’s this notion of a “safety net” that allows the same technology that once symbolized oppression to now symbolize protection. Safety, justice, and transparency have become the pillars by which many Gen Zers define their freedom. They’re redefining liberty through a lens of equity, believing that if everyone is seen, everyone is safer. What would Orwell think?

But therein lies the tension:
A generation that distrusts government still believes government should care for its people. PRRI’s 2023 generational study found that younger Americans are far more likely than older ones to say the state has a moral duty to safeguard individuals’ well-being. They may not trust authority, but they demand its responsibility.

The Takeaway

Gen Z isn’t surrendering freedom; they’re redefining it. They are not trying to go unseen, but rather to have the right to feel safe while being seen.

They’ve grown up in a world where every movement is tracked, every truth is timestamped, and every injustice can be caught on camera. It seems, by the CATO survey, that Gen Z doesn’t fear the security cameras and surveillance as much as they are afraid of the blind spots not caught on camera.

And maybe that’s the real warning of our modern 1984:
Big Brother does not have to force his way in.
We invited him with open arms through baby monitors, smart doorbells, and our collective craving for certainty.

For Gen Z, the watchful eye isn’t dystopia. It’s reassurance. Because in their world, to be seen is to be safe.

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