Millennials have become the focus of more attention everyday, whether it’s as a scapegoat or to simply highlight how “dumb” and “hopeless” we are.
Here’s what I don’t understand: what’s so wrong with millennials? Why do we have such a blinding spotlight on us? We’re kids, we’re teenagers, we’re young adults. That means we do what kids, teens, and young adults do. We’re a completely different set of young people than our parents were. We’re in a completely different time. We use social media, we follow silly trends, we wear unusual clothes. We’re the generation of gifs, but we’re also a generation (just like the rest) that’s trying to impact the world.
Our elders are supposed to support us and help us grow. There are tons of things older generations do that millennials don't support, but let's not open that door. Yet, they see us as stupid as if they were never kids many years ago. Do they really think we’re dumb enough to not realize they did stuff just as stupid when they were younger? Not only that, but there is such little acknowledgement from older generations that the world is drastically different from when they were younger. Do they shame us because they’re jealous of our youth? Our opportunities? Is it possible they put us down to not focus on their own world? It’s arguable that such different generations can even be compared. But here we are.
In some cases, we’re deemed as much of a disgrace as the Kardashians. News flash: we’re not the Kardashians, so stop putting us under a microscope. It’s hard to be who, where and what we want to be when we’re constantly scrutinized.
My confusion stems from one question: if we’re not doing what older generations want, what do they want?
How can we please them? We’re creating what we see as our future but what they see as their end. It’s hard to change an unchangeable mind.
It’s almost as if they don’t even realize what their words mean. To me, despite it’s truth in terms of fact, being called a millennial is an insult. The word has become something negative to be associated with. Just like any other label, if you’re going to associate an unflattering stigma, it’s best to not label others as such. Aren’t they the generation that told us if we don’t have anything nice to say that we shouldn’t say anything at all?
Millennials are called names and put in a dunce cap, but don’t forget there is something very true in the saying “there’s power in numbers.” There’s a huge network of millennials. Millions. We can make a meme go viral in a matter of hours, we can share a video to 500+ people in seconds, we can reach out to people in ways that even we are getting used to. Sure, we go about change in a different way than history has shown, but hasn’t our world created and thrived off change? When it hasn’t thrived off change, it adapted to it. As millennials, we’re trying to do what everyone else is: thrive and, if nothing else, adapt. This shouldn’t be made more difficult than it has to be.
We’re just trying to find our place in the world and you can be sure we will.
We are powerful.
