As a college professor, I've noticed that the skill of problem solving through networking seems to elude a lot of Millenials. It's perhaps even moreso with Gen Z.

For example, someone will tell me they can't make it to class because their car broke down. I'll ask if they know anyone near them they could carpool with. Then they look at me blankly. It will become clear they have no idea how to even approach the task of finding and asking someone -- even though our college has a message board in the Student Union for this exact purpose.

With Millennials, I'd thought maybe it was because the more affluent ones had been helicoptered, so a parent had probably swooped in to handle the issue for them. I'd thought maybe the less affluent ones might not have networks that were useful in that context.

I'm sure COVID has made it worse. A lot of teachers are saying that students they're seeing are having more trouble with attention, emotional regulation, problem solving, etc. Those are all necessary skills for learning to make friends and talk to people.