You kids today are bombarded with cold reality consistently

Yeah because seeing your friend blown into 1,000 pieces right next to you as a 17-year-old in 1944 is NOTHING compared to the "cold reality" of reading international news about how horrible a 99% survival-rate disease is from the safety of your home with every comfort, technology, and freedom imaginable.

Even Boomers and Gen X had it harder because they were generally poorer and less privileged than Zoomers and Millennials. Did stuff cost less? Sure, but they actually had to act like adults instead of being in a constant state of coddled childhood. Even the poorest Zoomer kid generally has an internet-connected device and entertainment, shelter, etc.