Editors’ Picks
Curtain rises for new Stage Craft elective pg. 2 Social media paints a false picture of protein pg. 5 Joanne Luo nurtures a unique menagerie of pets pg. 6 The hidden price behind “free” pg. 14 The Super Bowl halftime show Trump doesn’t want you to see pg. 15
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Volume 61 Issue 4 ! February 02, 2026
AGE & GENERATIONS
Graphic illustration by Amanda Jin
Gen Z’s American Dream // The high school relationship age gap // Formal etiquette // A seven-year sisterhood rift // Coming-of-age
Pain passed on through generations BY ASHLEY HEIN AND EUNICE LEUNG
F
or its survivors, trauma becomes an ever-present force shaping thoughts, emotions and choices, as tangible as a physical birthmark. Yet its effects extend beyond the people who originally lived through the experience: it can also be passed
down through family lines. Intergenerational trauma is defined by the American Psychological Association as the “transmission of trauma or its legacy” from those who underwent the trauma to succeeding generations. Descendants of trauma survivors can inherit reactions to stressors that began before they were
born — unspoken wounds that become detrimental to their ability to navigate the world. For example, adults who have been abused or neglected in their youth are 1.3 to 2 times more likely to have difficulty controlling their anger, which often manifests as harshness toward their children. The causes of intergenerational
trauma include historical tragedies such as slavery, genocide and systemic oppression of other kinds. Story continued on page 8.
Intergenerational trauma leaves lasting emotional, psychological and biological legacies in families.