Today’s adolescents are known as the millennial generation—anyone born within the 1980s and the early 2000s. Before us was generation X, and even before that were the baby boomers. Each generation has different attributes that provide explanation to their behaviors and what is going on in the world around them. We, the millennial generation, are seen as a generation that is technologically advanced, highly educated, and are said to be the future of change in our society. Yet why is it that so many individuals can only see our generation as being blinded by technology, lazy, needy, self-absorbed and entitled?
This past week when I walked into my Educational Policy lecture my professor asked us, “Why is today’s youth the worst generation ever?” I contemplated it for a moment. I thought to myself, “Are we really that bad? Are we that different from every other group of adolescents that has come before us?” She let us think about it for a moment and one by one class members began to contribute their thoughts and opinions. There were a few that agreed with her statement and provided reasoning to support why we are the worst generation. It was obvious that they were repeating reasons they have heard older generations use before with regard to technology and current events seen on the news. But other students began to chime in, questioning the concept in the same way that I did in my head. Students acknowledged that we might not be as bad as people make us out to be and that it all depends on the context in which our generation is seen. What I took away is that context is key.
I believe that each new group of adolescents is seen as the worst generation ever. There is something about the way the youth is perceived that causes us to never lose the naïve, rebellious, or innocent associations. Society is continually progressing and developing at such a quick rate and each generation offers different qualities, changes, and ideas to the world around them. As something new is brought to the table within these groups, it causes older generations to feel uncomfortable because it is different and not something they are used to.
Today’s youth have grown and matured in a different manner in terms of their exposure to technology, social media, and ability to multitask. This technological influence has caused us to see the world differently and has influenced our educational environment as well. While many individual’s consumption of social media can seem over the top or hindering them from many aspects of the world, others are making technological advances that are creating a variety of opportunities for future generations. This is causing the working world to slowly change and our personal plans for future careers and paths to be extremely unique compared to any other time period. Additionally, The millennial generation is making a mark in history with its developments in gender identity. Never before have individuals been able to honestly express their sexuality and gender identity in the way that they can today and will, even more, in the future.
I am not saying all of this because I am trying to defend that our generation is perfect. I don’t believe that at all; I do not believe any generation is perfect. I am saying this because I believe each generation comes with multiple narratives, yet certain ones are highlighted more than others. Even though there are millennials on the news for derogatory reasons or others who fall under the negative associations of our generation does not mean that there aren’t others who are positively moving forward and pushing change. We all have a fixed expectation of what will happen when you walk into a room filled with teenagers, but it does not mean that everything you believe can be applied to every individual in that room—like every other stereotype known to man.
Just because we may take selfies, have different, non-traditional plans for what we want to pursue in life and are extremely connected through our technological devices doesn’t mean that we aren’t protesting for change, developing technology to help save lives and creating revolution within society. There are multiple narratives to every generation, so which narrative are you going to focus on?
