Millennials get blamed for a lot. We've "killed" a lot of industries. We're entitled. We're the generation that received participation trophies. The generation that relies too much on technology. And on and on and on.

I've found that people are so quick to blame or judge millennials that they don't really understand who they are blaming and judging.

Most people don't even know what age group millennials actually are; they just see a problem and like to blame millennials. So I'm here to set it straight.

According to the Center for Generational Kinetics, a millennial is someone born between 1977 and 1995.

That would mean they are people between the ages of 22 and 40.

Yes, that means if you are in your late 30's, you're technically a millennial.

And that also means that someone in high school or even most people in college are in fact not millennials. They belong to Gen Z (anyone born after 1996).

I have listened to someone in their thirties complain about millennials and how we are so hard to work with because we're so used to things being handed to us. I wish you could have seen the look on their face when I told them they themselves were a millennial.

I have also listened to someone complain about their grandson, who is in high school, and how he is always on his phone and labeled it as a millennial problem.

In reality, that would be a Gen Z problem.

Now, there is some debate as to where the cut off between millennials and Gen Z falls. I've seen some websites say 1997, some say 2001, and then some say 1995-96.

However, I saw one site give a great explanation as to when that divide falls, but it's not with a specific birth year. Their theory is connected to a specific memory or in this case a lack of memory revolving around a particular historical event; 9/11.

This website said a good way to mark the divide, was whether or not a person who falls in the gray area between the two generations remembers and was able to comprehend the terrorist attacks of 9/11 when they happened.

For example, I was born in 1995, so I am right on the edge between millennial and Gen Z.

However, I would consider myself a millennial because I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard what had happened.

I may not have fully understood what was going on but I knew it was something bad because of how sad and scared my parents, teachers and family were. As a result, I lived through that part of our history, I didn't learn about it from a history book.

So, there it is.

I hope this little explanation helped you in understanding where the millennial generation starts and ends.

And I hope that the next time you find yourself in a generational debate (it happens to me more than I care to admit), you'll actually know what you are talking about.