[I'm taking a break from my "Emotional Posts" to defend my generation.]
The topic of "generations" has been brought up multiple times in my every-day conversations. I am 23 and, therefore, a "Millennial." Here's how generations are grouped:
1927-1945 - Silent Generation or Traditionalists
1946-1964 - Baby Boomers
1965-1983 - Gen X or the Busters
1984- 2002 - Gen Y or the Millennials
2003- Current Gen Z or the Digital Generation
Give or take a little. So as it goes, Millennials are now the 12 to 30 years-olds. We are the era that has never lived without the internet. We grew up with televisions, cell phones, and laptops. We understand social media and we use it to keep in constant communication.
As this era's teenagers/young adults, we are seen as rude and naive- the "hoodlums." I think it's safe to say that ALL generations were label similarly when they were young. The Baby Boomers (and especially the Traditionalists) dread the day that we are "running the country." We are the 21st century's flappers, hippies, and punks.
As Millennials, we bring our own bad habits to the table. Some of our negative characteristics include:
That being said, we're not all that bad. Here's why:
The topic of "generations" has been brought up multiple times in my every-day conversations. I am 23 and, therefore, a "Millennial." Here's how generations are grouped:
1927-1945 - Silent Generation or Traditionalists
1946-1964 - Baby Boomers
1965-1983 - Gen X or the Busters
1984- 2002 - Gen Y or the Millennials
2003- Current Gen Z or the Digital Generation
Give or take a little. So as it goes, Millennials are now the 12 to 30 years-olds. We are the era that has never lived without the internet. We grew up with televisions, cell phones, and laptops. We understand social media and we use it to keep in constant communication.
As this era's teenagers/young adults, we are seen as rude and naive- the "hoodlums." I think it's safe to say that ALL generations were label similarly when they were young. The Baby Boomers (and especially the Traditionalists) dread the day that we are "running the country." We are the 21st century's flappers, hippies, and punks.
As Millennials, we bring our own bad habits to the table. Some of our negative characteristics include:
- The need for instant gratification. We went to college with Facebook and have a relationship with Instragram. As soon as we do it, the world hears about it or sees it.
- Self-entitlement. We were raised to think that we are special and we deserve that A+, raise, or job promotion.
- We're considered insincere. We search the internet while we sit in the waiting room and we'd rather say "Happy Birthday" in a text than send a real card or letter.
That being said, we're not all that bad. Here's why:
- We understand the internet. We know that the internet can be an extremely dangerous place, but we also know that it opens so many doors. I can find an internship in New York, stay connected to my friends in Texas, or research a dead language. We are not fascinated by the internet. We are not scared of the internet.
- We know social media etiquette. I won't say that we all abide by it, but we KNOW that our employers/grandma/pastor can see what we post. We know that being on Facebook at the dinner table is rude. We know that "LOL" and "WTF" are not appropriate to use in a company email. We actually take classes in college that warn us about social media and because of this, WE KNOW THE INTERNET BETTER THAN ANY OTHER GENERATION. Have I made my point? I know Facebook's privacy settings better than my parents know them. I know that WebMD can't be taken at face value. I know that not all email content is factual and, unlike the State Farm commercial, just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's true.
- We are crazy open-minded. (I'd guess most Traditionalist and B. Boomers aren't exactly thrilled about this.) We didn't live through the civil rights movements. We don't see race as an issue. We are in an age where love is becoming free and good. We are the fuel in that fire. We are reading the Bible, watching the news, researching the hot-button issues, and forming our own opinions. We're not scared to raise our voices and we refuse to be persecuted for our thoughts. We're opinionated and we have more ways to educate ourselves than ever before. We may be called "opinionated", "arrogant", and "wrong", but you can't call us lazy.
- We're the ones birthing and raising the next generations. That alone is awesome. We are responsible for the next wave of human beings. We can pass on our desire to love, learn, and grow. We can (hopefully) raise our children to be open-minded and to care about humanity and the environment. We know how to use apps to education and entertain, but we also know what it's like to play flag-football and force our kids to go on walks with the dog. We won't all be perfect parents (heck, none of us will be "perfect"), but we have blogs, websites, books, forums, and new research to help us raise happy, healthy children.
So there it is. My father sends "lol" in his text messages and I see an older couples at the check-out counter on their cell phones- we ALL abuse new age technology, especially when it's "new" to us. It's not new to Millennials. It is my hope that our generation won't allow our children to watch Dora the Explorer on the iPad at Bob Evans. I hope that other Millennials takes the educational courses that outline appropriate professional language. There will always be new technologies and new temptations. We will always have little faith in the younger generations. We are young, stupid, and new to the "real world", but I promise we have a lot to offer.
