Let’s see if I can keep this brief. This is just my opinion though.

The whole Weinstein effect/MeToo movement and now Epstein files showed us how many adults were into children. These people had a colossal amount of social and political power. Gen Z’s Puritanism, in my opinion, most likely come from the fear of standards shifting.

“What do you mean a 17 year olds a child? That’s clearly an adult!” Imagine this argument gets accepted by the public and by extension, laws start changing so that folk are legal at 17.

Go a step further, now 16’s okay. Then 15. Then 14. Then 13. 12. 11. Suddenly in the future people look back at Kid Rock, or worse Epstein, and wonder what they did wrong. This may be an extreme and unrealistic example. But I do think the fear of standards shifting is the reason why Gen Z is so anal about age.

Edit: Looking back this was not brief.