Nonchalance is the enemy of joy.

As someone who easily gets excited about the little things, I hate the idea of nonchalance. The idea of having to detach yourself from the things you enjoy to fit in is devastating. We wouldn’t be the people we are without the experiences, people, and media we love.

Part of the reason why teens are aiming for nonchalance is that we’re living in a world where we’re forced to be hypervigilant about what we say or do, in part because of social media. We’re so scared of being judged that we would rather hide than let people know we’re excited about something.

While social media may be at the root of why students began to react with nonchalance, many people are picking up the trend for other reasons, like simply to fit in, or even as a coping mechanism as it grows in popularity. 

According to Dr. Caroline Fenkel, via an article by SheKnows, nonchalance is also a new way that teens are attempting to regulate their emotions. Gen Z is in the middle of a mental health crisis, with 26.5% of girls and 14.3% of boys between the ages of 12 and 19 suffering from depression. It quickly becomes easier to respond with nonchalance than potentially react in an embarrassing way. 

But meaningful connections with friends, family, and partners are often made through shared interests and experiences. What happens when you don’t make those connections because you didn’t talk about your interests with new people? Or worse, if when you do share, they respond like they don’t care?

A culture of apathy discourages people from making connections in a community. When political, social, and cultural issues are perceived as ‘cringe’ to others, people stop engaging for fear of looking different. 

Teens need to fight nonchalance for their own wellbeing. Though it seems harmless at first, it’s a toxic culture that’s harming those who participate in it by disengaging them from others and themselves by stopping them from doing the things that they love. 

In the end, nonchalance is taking so many opportunities from the people who are trying to engage in it. They’re missing chances to make new friends, feel the excitement that comes with new experiences, and so much more. 

Talking to strangers is cool. 

Picking up a new hobby every week is cool. 

Lipsyncing to the music blasting from your AirPods is cool.

So stop being scared of other people’s reactions and get excited about something. Hug your friends in the hallways, talk a little too loudly about your favorite TV show, or respond to that text right away. It won’t kill you. 

Try being ‘chalant’ — it will be worth it.

Or don’t. I don’t care, it’s fine. Whatever.

Each opinion represented in The Panther Press is the view and voice of the writer. Opinions, as the selection and curation of content by the editors, do not represent the views of the entire Panther Press staff, the adviser, the school, or the administration.