Is it just me, or does it seems like every generation looks down on the following generation? More than ever, though, I'm starting to think that millennials are getting the worst of it.

Nearly every day when I go on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram or take a trip to the mall, attend a wedding, or overhear a lunch-break conversation, I read and hear accusations about my generation. I have never felt so judged for circumstances that I can't control...and I'm a first-generation college student.

I believe that no generation has ever even neared perfection, mine included. But, it feels like a lot of myths circulate about us and allow stereotypes and generalizations to dominate people's views. Why don't we consider one of the main arguments used against millennials so that we can all take a peek at the bottom 90% of the generational iceberg? That way, we can form our own opinions based on facts and the context of our current social and political environment rather than taking as fact the rhetoric we hear from Grumpy Baby-Boomer #6004.

Now to tackle some controversy! There are many criticisms of millennials, but there is one that pulsates in my mind more intensely than the rest. It goes something like this:

"Millennials are so entitled."

Really? Let's break this down.

Are Helicopter Parents To Blame?

According to an article by Times writer, Nick Gillispie, 65% of American adults see millennials as "selfish." "Ummm, how?" you might ask. For that, we turn to another article by Inc. writer, Ryan Jenkins. Jenkins labels millennials as "the type to demand too much, too quickly," whether this be a promotion or more flexible hours at work. This, coupled with the expectation to get a high-paying, fulfilling job after graduation paints quite a grim picture of an impatient and hotheaded millennial.

Both Gillispie and Jenkins blame the generation prior to millennials: our parents. Consider "helicopter parenting." The two journalists hold that because we were coddled through our childhood, we therefore expect to be coddled through life. Aside from the fact that many of us were not coddled and worked damn hard to get to where we are, I fail to see how being sufficiently loved by our parents can be considered a failure. Now, I won't flat-out say that millennials are not entitled, but I will suggest that there is more to this perception than just being given a participation trophy. Let's dig deeper.

Technology Leads To Control

I believe that our rapidly changing world has had tremendous consequences on how we were educated and how we are handling our professions. The Internet has come to the forefront of our modern society and gained use at a blinding rate. Less than 30 years ago, the first web browser launched. Now, there's an app or website for anything and everything. With the Internet came social media and other platforms for creating and sharing information.

A poll by Pew Research Center states that 79% of people who use the Internet also use Facebook, not to mention other popular platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest. Now think about how specialized these sites are. Think about how much time you've put into editing a picture before posting, thinking of a bio or what kind of cover photo you want. Everything we run into nowadays becomes a complex decision with endless options. Think about college. We now have the ability to take online courses and customize our class schedules based on preference. We are so used to having many choices in the matters we encounter every day. So naturally, we seem to expect a similar volume of choices in society and the workplace. This doesn't mean that millennials want companies to bend to their will or that we are selfish. Rather, that is how we are accustomed to expressing ourselves. The entrepreneurial spirit of the generation before us has conditioned us millennials to expect to be able to customize every aspect of life within a world that scorns control by larger institutions and social constructs.

Technology Leads To New Skill-Sets

Millennials are becoming adept at skills that seem useless or outlandish to baby-boomers. But, according to Millennial Marketing writer, Erica Moss, 68% of employers believe that millennials have a breadth of skills that the generation before does not. Between all people of my generation, there seems to be a collective understanding of specific software that would prove useful in a work environment. This feeling of technological superiority sets in pretty early, right around the time our parents ask us for help connecting to the wifi in random restaurants. Being confident in our skills acquired through adaptation to our technological world, we can move forward courageously with our job searches. As corporations become more dependent on technology, millennials become the obvious choice for employment. The logic isn't flawed here, it's just misplaced optimism. We should be focusing on learning the technological skills that can't be easily taught to the current workforce and be optimistic in our youth and ability to acquire those skills now. As a designer myself, getting comfortable with a program like InDesign felt momentous in the hunt for jobs and internships because few people had taken the time to learn the software. If we were all to apply this optimism to each opportunity that arises, then we'd be justified in being confident about our skill-sets.

Conclusion

In response to the accusations they constantly receive, millennials need to pace themselves and acknowledge that not everything can be changed. Or at least that changing something is not as simple as clicking a mouse. Technological skills only go so far if you lack the soft skills like empathy, ambition, initiative and communication.

Though millennials do have issues that can make them seem entitled, not all of our behaviors are flawed. The primary problem is that there is a severe lack of understanding between millennials and the baby-boom generation. There is so much finger-pointing and name-calling and not enough conversation. If we could all just take part in a little more discourse on a subject without attacking each other, then there would be less misunderstanding. If you need some cold, hard, unforgiving numbers, you can refer to this website by Goldman Sachs. It's very informative (and well designed) and great for learning more about this generation. It offers wonderful statistics without bias so that you can form your own opinion on the matter.

To conclude, engage in discussion and be open-minded, whether you're a baby-boomer or a millennial. As in all forms of debate, you should encourage credible data and studies. Dismiss the one-off examples you hear from someone about their crazy aunt or their lazy son because those anecdotes are no reflection on you. We're all in this world together trying to survive day-by-day. Though life often feels like a competition, it's important that we hold on to our decency toward fellow human beings. If we want to have hope for the future, we'll have to work together. And I'm entitled to that opinion.