Fighting is so taboo in today’s society, but making a representative warrior class will need to encourage some levels of teaching controlled physical violence in schools.

Solution: America needs to train a real warrior capability in gym class so Z is capable of committing controlled violence.

Physical violence has been and will always be part of warfare. It's uncomfortable and challenging to discuss, but warfare requires killing other human beings. Militaries have long struggled with making their Soldiers physically strong enough to commit violence, and mentally sure enough to engage an enemy on the battlefield. If the war in Ukraine has shown the world anything, it’s that even in modern times, extreme levels of destructive acts need to be done by warriors fighting for survival. Generation Z has grown up to primarily see physical violence as outdated and taboo. While cyberbullying rates and suicides have skyrocketed among Zers, old-style fisticuffs are not as common.

The Center for Disease Control’s 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that 8% of high school students had been in a physical fight one or more times in the past year[1]. In 1991, that number was nearly 50% among high schoolers. This decrease in physical violence has transferred over to the horrors of emotional and cyber violence; which some could argue are more damaging to our youth. Additionally, society must analyze the impact that the reduction of physical violence has on those it asks to go to war. Fighting is taboo in today's society, but making a representative warrior class will need to encourage some levels of teaching controlled physical violence in schools…

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire. Available at: www.cdc.gov/yrbs. Accessed on January 2023.

Matthew Weiss is currently an Intelligence Officer in the United States Marine Corps. His book, “We Don’t Want You, Uncle Sam: Examining the Military Recruiting Crisis with Generation Z” is available on amazon in paperback, e-book, and audiobook format.