Does she actually need Linux or is using a unixoid OS fine? A lot of the time installing homebrew (or whatever the package manager was called) on MacOS can suffice for several use cases.
Other than that, if you’re not needing apple exclusive software on it, installing Linux on the Macbook can be a good option.
If you definitely want virtualization, go with VirtualBox
Considering that Gen Z is usually defined as being born between the mid-late 1990s and early 2010s, I wouldn’t support the first half of that statement. Everyone born in the first half of 2005 or earlier are 18, making them adults, so about half of Gen Z is adults.
Now whether this article uses that age range properly or whether it’s just someone using the term to mean “young people”, I have no idea.
But the premise of the article that just because someone uses technology all day makes them somehow invulnerable to scams (something that has absolutely nothing to do with how much someone uses tech) was ludicrous from the start.