Here’s the thing about generations, everybody wants to believe that his or her own generation was the greatest. Growing up, I am sure we all heard about how lazy we are, or how we take for granted the advantages that they never had. But what strikes me as peculiar is this incessant need to analyse the wants and actions of the newest generation, as though technology has not affected the actions of older people.
Millennials have been labelled lazy, entitled, technology obsessed, socially disconnected, narcissistic, fiscally irresponsible and even apathetic about politics. Yet what baffles me is this – what makes a generation a generation? Most people agree that generations comprise groups of people who are sharing a vastly similar experience, and there are certain characteristics that define said generation. But is it fair to say that everything down to what millennials value has been affected simply by the nature of the time period into which they were born? And don’t things that affect newer generations also affect older ones similarly? In fact, this might be why the only formally designated generation is the Baby Boomers. According to the US census bureau, the only generation they have defined is the Baby Boomers, for the period of 1946 to 1964. This time period is incredibly distinct, as it reflects a post-war era. There was a rise in the standard of living and the re-emergence of the nuclear family. These characteristics are observable, and when societal changes began to disrupt these characteristics the generation was declared over. Yet, as Tom DiPrete, sociology professor at Columbia University says, “History isn’t always so punctuated.”
Maybe this is why the term Millennial has very little true meaning. There isn’t any real definition. In October 2004, researchers Neil Howe and William Strauss defined the group as “those born in 1982 and approximately the 20 years thereafter”. In 2012, they affixed the end point as 2004. Yet, unlike the distinct Baby Boomer generation, the things that define the characteristics of the generation affected individuals in a much more diverse way. Nearly everyone was affected by war the same way; there was loss of life, typically the men went away for years at time, and the standard of living was generally lower, whereas not everyone is affected by the onset of technology in the same way. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, the most people distracted by technology, say when eating a meal are actually people aged 50 to 64, and the majority of compulsive social media checkers come from the age group 25 to 54. Personally, it seems ridiculous to me that people would correlate an increase in technology with an increase in laziness and then only apply it to one specific age group of people. Technology has enhanced all of our lives, but does this mean it has changed our values? It’s strange to me that people see a whole group of young adults as apathetic and detached just because technology was introduced to them. Surely, you must know that we still enjoy face-to-face company? I mean we can’t really be expected to go to the grocery store alone to buy our avocados! (Kidding.) In reality, don’t we all go through different phases? I would assume that a detached teen staring at a screen instead of listening to their parents is the equivalent of a teen in the 80s locking themselves in their room and blasting rock music rebelliously. I truly cannot wrap my mind around how people feel like so much is dictated by merely the year in which you were born. Of course, we will see the world differently, we will face different problems and have different advantages, but does this mean that we will have different values? I don’t think so. I think the values we have are more personal; to do with how we were raised, and cannot be defined simply by circumstance. In any case, a millennial in Guyana wouldn’t even share the same formative experiences as a millennial in the United States. Our countries are developing at different rates, and, therefore, we will be exposed to different experiences.
The point is, I feel like addressing groups of people broadly is useless. It erases the individual experiences of the person, and it also dismisses the fact that people can react differently to things. Some young people do in fact use the Internet and social media to waste a chunk of their time, while others use it primarily to be more productive. Don’t stereotype! Young people can be amazing workers: diligent and efficient. Don’t let preconceived notions get in the way of how you view others, and lastly, don’t be a hypocrite. If you’re an older person who uses social media, don’t turn your nose up on kids who do. Acknowledge that using technology can be fun and productive, and doesn’t necessarily make one lazy, and I’m sure we’ll all get along a bit better.
