Teacher Asks Gen Z Class To Write Letters to Elderly, Unprepared for Result

A millennial teacher has turned to the internet to explain why teaching Gen Z students is the "craziest" experience.

English and creative writing teacher Tyler Jackowski, 27, gave his students an assignment that required them to write a letter to a resident of a home for the elderly, and one of the letters left him completely stunned. He uploaded a video of himself reading the letter to TikTok, where it has received 3.2 million views.

Jackowski from Boston, Massachusetts, told Newsweek: "This one student was not aware that the assignment was serious, and chose to utilize the ever-common Gen Z comedic skills that I see daily."

According to Britannica, Generation Z refers to individuals born during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some sources give the specific year range of 1997 to 2012, although the years spanned are sometimes contested or debated.

During the clip, Jackowski explains that the purpose of the assignment was to make the the residents of the home feel "a little better."

He told Newsweek: "I wanted to offer students the opportunity to practice writing, and writing letters is a skill worth being able to do. My goal was to bring the letters to an elderly home (many of which I was able to do) in order to develop a back and forth."

However, he was unable to send the letter mentioned in the video, which had gained over 342,000 likes at the time of writing.

It said: "Dear elderly individual, I'm sorry that you got so old. It really sounds like a terrible thing to experience. I hope they let you play games at the old people's home – if you need another resident, my teacher Mr. J needs a place to live."

The camera then cuts to a close up of Jackowski's face, which has a blank expression.

He continues to read the letter that says: "If you want to include me in your will, here's my contact info," followed by their address and name.

It turns out the student didn't realize the letters were meant to be read by a real elderly person. Upon reflection, he decided to write a new one.

Jackowski told Newsweek: "Genuinely, knowing that the student misunderstood that this was a real assignment, I can completely understand the student wanting to be funny with this idea.

"Naturally, I was not expecting what was written...Once the student was reminded of what would be done with the letters, his response was completely professional and respectful (as usual)."

When asked how those born between 1997 and 2012 differ to other generations, Jackowski told Newsweek: "Gen Z students are just like anyone: They want to feel safe, comfortable, and enabled to become themselves. Many teachers forget that they were once the students in the desks, and that it's difficult to work through these times."

According to comments on the post, Gen Z are a unique generation.

One parent said: "I have a gen z kid.... I am literally the mayor of crazy town... on the daily."

"As a gen z kid I definitely feel bad for a bunch of teachers that have to put up with us," said another commenter.

"I'm gen z teaching gen alpha and they only get sassier," said one user.

Jackowski told Newsweek: "Educators need to be willing to meet students where they're at, and allow for some fun in the classroom. Gen Z students, and students of the future, deserve to have educators who push them to be their full selves, regardless of how that looks!"

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