That's what we are.
The range is varied depending on who you ask or what website you reference, but the average birth years are from 1982 to 2004. To a lot of adults from around "baby boomer" generation, we're a bunch of "know-nothing kids."
Most children nowadays will never live in a world where a phone is restricted to a 5 feet radius, a TV that has a back end larger than the average 3-year old, dial-up, and even a portable CD player. However, I know what an 8-track is, I own a record player, and I enjoy and keep the original Nintendo game consoles kept in my family.
Just because it is true for some, doesn't mean it is true for all of us.
This came into play for the election, as the outcome was something that impacts everyone especially the future, which is us.
For those who aren't pleased by the outcome, they blame us. Either we voted wrong or they think we didn't vote at all. I voted. All of my friends voted. And for the age group of 18-25, Hillary Clinton would have without a doubt won.
So if you know someone who isn't pleased with how this election played out, it's not our fault. Don't let them blame you.
We protest. We fight. But all in hopes and plans of doing it peacefully.
We've grown up in a world where we believe our friends are free to identify however they want, not based upon a book that is thousands of years old or what our ancestors believed. We have friends with backgrounds from different countries who may be first generation Americans and still have family in other parts of the world. We've grown up knowing things are not exact, but rather that things can change. Gender roles have started becoming an old idea, and we don't characterize employment based on sex.
We accept different because we are different.
With our generation, we have been blessed with technology, but some adults believe it has affected us negatively. I had a professor make the comment that our class didn’t know what envelopes were, which I have plenty in my desk. I receive mail, as most people do.
I’m technically an adult, but when you’re in the awkward stage of being between 18-21 where you’re expected to act like an adult but still be treated like a teenager, it’s hard. Our parents didn’t grow up with social media and the effects it has on your everyday life. Yes, there are good aspects as I am still able to be in contact with people I know who moved or family in other states, but it also made “subtweeting” a thing where even when you left school, the bullies were still there.
It’s more common than not to have or know someone with anxiety and/or depression. According to PsychologyToday, the average high school student has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the 1950’s.
Yes, we have more technological advances giving us a better chance of living longer and healthier lives, but the changes between us and the older generations is mind-boggling when it comes to how common mental illness (anxiety, depression, ADHD/ADD, etc.) is these days.
We may have more “problems” but we’re also stronger and have to put up with more things that used to be seen as a big issue now just being “normal.”
We’re tough. We’re stubborn. We know what we want, and we won’t stop till we get it. With anything big that happens within our lifetime, we will be there to support or reject it full-heartedly, because we know you get what you work for.
Don’t put us down, just support it. Because you won’t want to ever say you had less than great expectations of us millennials.
