I am a Millennial. Since I was born in a certain time frame, I am lumped into a category with all of my fellow peers (as has every other generation that came before me). Some people try to learn how to tap into our "millennial vibes" and some people want us to just go away! Millennials this, Millennials that. Give us a break!
Millennials (aka the Millennial Generation or Gen Y) are a part of the generation born in between Generation X (born 1960s-1980) and Generation Z (born 2000+). Gen X is the group that came directly after the baby boomer generation, which makes many of the millennials the children of baby boomers. Millennials, born around 1980-1990s, are the first generation that grew up with advanced technology. This vast difference in upbringing from other generations has caused some trouble in the past couple of years. If you are confused by all the numbers, years and names, I don't blame you. Just figure out which generation you fall under and keep reading!
Millennials have been the topic of many heated conversations in the past couple of years, some positive and some negative. On the positive side, Millennials have been called open-minded, liberal, upbeat, passionate and self-expressive. On the negative side, our generation has been dubbed the "Me Me Me Generation", meaning we are lazy, entitled and narcissistic. Since we grew up with phones and computers and are used to having them on us at all times, we are totally vapid individuals who "cannot have a regular conversation outside of Facebook". This is just nuts. Yes, some of our fellow millennials are all of these negative adjectives, but most of us are pretty awesome and are striving to do great things.
We are all a product of our tech-obsessed environment. We Millennials are the first generation that has come up in the digital age. We grew up with computers, phones, and the internet. To those who are quick to criticize us: Consider how you might have lived differently if it had been the same for you. In school, we grew up with calculators, online testing, typing papers on the computer, computer learning games, etc. Older generations had books, paper and pencils. There is nothing wrong with either of these learning styles. We both learned the same thing, just differently.
We grew up knowing things that some older people had to learn when they were already adults (how to use a computer, iPad, the internet, cellphone, etc). I'm sure it is frustrating seeing people half your age know a lot more about something than you do. We are taught that the older generations are the wisest and most knowledgeable. This is still true of course, but our generation has changed this idea in a way, regarding technology knowledge. Older generations are having to learn things from Millennials now since they are new to all things tech. This is probably very weird for an older person as it totally flips history on its side. Usually, the younger kids learn everything from the older people. In this day and age, when it comes to technology, the young kids are the ones that are the teachers.
If you are part of an older generation who has little faith in us, try to remember that we didn't grow up knowing any differently. We were raised by the baby boomers, which some of you are a part of. If you don't like how we were raised or how we grew up, I'm sorry, but that's just how it happened. Some of our fellow Millenials are working hard to fight diseases, make extreme technical advances, and to change the world. Not all we do is bad or self-obsessed. Yes, there are some bad eggs, but what generation doesn't have their crazies and their scandals and tragedies. It's about how we overcome those things in the end. I hope our generation doesn't grow up to criticize the following generation for growing up in a different environment than we did.
I'm sure this debate has been going on since the beginning of time. People thought that Elvis and his scandalous hip movements were "of the devil" and that he was influencing the younger generation in a negative way. People also thought that Rock and Roll were ruining young people. Years later, now we know better. Just because something is new doesn't make it evil. Yes, selfies and Tinder may be ridiculous, but our whole generation isn't defined by these few things. Get to know us and learn about how we grew up and maybe we can teach each other a few things. You teach me how to do long division in my head and I'll teach you how to set up your new iPad. My argument is that we should judge people on their individual acts instead of generalizing a whole group of people that happened to be born during the same time. Some of us are lazy and self-obsessed, but most of us just love taking selfies and don't want to live without them! Give us a chance and see what we can do!
Sincerely,
A Millennial that is trying her best
