Gen Zers are more risk-averse. Experts say it’s ruining their dating lives

• Avni Trivedi, CNN Health 

Apparently only 1 in 3 teen guys and 1 in 5 teen girls feel confident enough to actually approach someone they like. One in five. That’s wild.

And honestly? It checks out. Nobody wants to “strike out” or end up as a screenshot in someone’s group chat. We’re not just scared of embarrassing ourselves, we’re scared of making the other person uncomfortable too. Like we’ve all collectively decided the safest move is no move at all.

Here’s the thing though, people have literally been scared of rejection for millions of years. This isn’t new. We’ve just got social media adding a permanent record to every awkward moment, so the fear feels bigger than it actually is.

But here’s a story that stuck with me: a girl almost didn’t give a guy a chance because she was so busy imagining the worst-case breakup. He kept showing up anyway, and she ended up realizing how safe she actually felt with him. The risk she was so scared of? It became the best decision she made.

Your move this week: Send the text. Say the thing. Worst case, it’s awkward for a day. Best case, you find out what almost didn’t happen.

What’s one risk you’ve been sitting on? Drop it in the GenWE Real Life Club, let’s normalize trying. 👀💛