Can we just take a second to mourn for all the bad opinions that seem to believe that Millennials are the worst generation since.. well.. the last one? We get a really bad reputation, for no reason other than the way the circumstances of our birth have shaped us. You know, like EVERY OTHER GENERATION. This is nothing new. For those of you who aren’t sure if you fall into this category, the Census Bureau defines anyone born in the 1980s to the early 2000s as a Millennial. With this definition, we make up about a third of the population of the United States. Now, that’s all well and good, except when Millennial becomes synonymous with lazy, spoiled, and arrogant. As if those adjectives are unique to our generation? With all of these negative notions circling about Millennials, I think it’s about time we clarify a few things.
1. We’re Self-Involved
Our generation is known for getting trophies just for showing up and being spoon fed affirmations and platitudes for the entirety of our adolescents. Because of this, those known as the Baby Boomers (1940-1964) and Generation X (1965-1985) are seeing a change in the way young adults conduct themselves. But since when is ‘new’ synonymous with ‘bad?’ With universities collectively logging more service hours than ever before, and students becoming more vocal in social justice campaigns, it’s fascinating that we are known as self-involved. Don't get me wrong, there are self-involved people, but they are ubiquitous through out the generations. The key here is that the campaigns the Millennials are embarking on are in stark contrast to beliefs former generations hold so dear. This does not make us wrong, or ignorant, or singular in our ideas of the world. Quite the opposite, actually. We’ve grown up in a time where everyone is connected through social media, giving us insights to the sufferings and injustices of the world, and giving us a desire for change. Growing up being told we’re special has made us more vocal and more aware of our abilities to help. Growing up getting trophies just for showing up has taught us that showing up is half the battle. Yes, we were coddled as children, and taught that we can be great and and impactful. And now that we are standing here with our arms up demanding change, we are told to sit down and stop being so arrogant.
2. We’re Stupid
Okay, hold up. What? For some reason, Generation X has got it in their heads that the only way to be smart is to memorize random things that you may (or may not) need in the future (see current public education system trends.) As Millennials, we grew up with technology older generations only dreamed of. We grew up using google as a verb and having constellations available at our fingertips. The White House reports college enrollments at historical highs. Hello, this means more people are not only graduating highs school, but also continuing their education. This trend is also exceptional because a higher percentage of women are going on to higher education than ever before. There is this misguided idea that because we use technology as much as we do, we must not be very smart. As if that has any sort of correlation. Or validity. It doesn’t. We have grown up learning how to use technology to the point where, for many blooming markets, it is a necessity. Okay, I’ll admit, we do learn differently. We learn to do our research on the internet rather than in encyclopedias. We learn to rely on a larger database and the research of experts in their respective fields. We have been taught to question everything and discover for ourselves. If that makes us stupid then so be it, but I’m not really convinced.
3. We Don't Value Connection
This is actually a pretty funny one to me. See, there is this notion that because we use technology so much we are incapable of actual human connection. Now, okay, I’ll be the first to admit that technology has really done a number of the whole dating scene (omg he liked my tweet, should I favorite his Instagram photo!?) but it has also enabled us to remain connected with people at further distances. When you are cultivating connections your entire life, being able to maintain friendships is invaluable. This idea also comes from marriage trends. Millennials tend to get married quite a bit older than former generations, circa 6-7 years. But see, they’re still getting married. In fact, according to CEA, more than 80% of polled Millennials report wanting to be married (higher than both of the former generations) and about 60% reported wanting children (again, higher than BOTH of the previous generations.) Most of us were raised in a culture where 50% of all marriages end in divorce, leading to a huge number of us being raised by (you guessed it) divorced parents. Millennials are not anti-marriage, we are anti-divorce. Many have seen the effects first hand and would rather be sure of their commitment before, you know, actually committing. This is not the same as disregarding connection, at all. We are easily the most virtually connected generation to ever exist, and truly do value our ability to connect with other people. Sure, sometimes we are a little misguided (cough-tinder-cough) but the reality is Millennials are mistakenly assumed to disregard connection because we connect differently.
I’m not saying we have it all figured out, we’ve made a lot of mistakes and that trend is probably going to continue. But when you raise children to believe they are special, you probably shouldn’t be surprised when they continue to believe that in adulthood.
