America 's Neglected Middle Child Essay

As generations go by, our predecessors assume we are skipping out on important aspects of life just to get a few extra minutes on our devices. In Catherine Rampell’s “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much”, it is said the older generations believe Generation Y is “coddled, disrespectful, narcissistic, and impatient” (Rampell 388). In all reality our generation is just doing what it has to in order to thrive in the world we live in, where technology is one of the largest parts of our everyday lives. If the older generations that criticize Generation Y had grown up in Generation Y they would realize the world we live in requires the use of technology. The advancement of society with technology has shaped Generation Y to be the people that they are, relying on technology; however, older generations believe Generation Y is lazy.

Kuester, I., & Fiedler, A. (2010). Child Development and Child Poverty. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

In Leonard Klie’s article, “Gen X: Stuck in the Middle,” the author writes about how generation x are different than other generations. In fact, older generations spent more time at work than with family, and generation x feels opposite on that matter and concentrates on having a balance between work and family time. He explains that generation x is very tech-savvy, in fact, they witnessed the launching of household computers, video games, internet, cable and satellite television. In this article the writer explains this generation makes many purchases online, but they closely researched and look at reviews on everything before purchasing the items. In fact, most of this generation will not buy items without finding enough information about

Sinek states that the four main factors he believes that contribute to how millennials are today is parent-failure, technology, impatience, and environment. Parent-failure is due to parents repeatedly telling their children they can do anything they put their mind to and deserve praise no matter what. Technology is a factor because it is everywhere and we are used to putting a “filter” on our life to make it seem perfect. Impatience is included because we

In an interview of 2016, Simon Sinek analyses and discusses the topic of Millennials within the workplace. Throughout Sinek’s speech in his interview, he explains the disadvantages which Millennials have faced while growing up in their generation. Now, Sinek claims that the reason why Millennials have been dealt such a “bad hand” in life, is a result of failed parenting strategies, and an imbalance of technology along with social media (which has advanced like never before within the adolescence of Millennials). Therefore, the imbalance of the internet and real-life interaction results in millennials being unable to form deep and meaningful relationships, in order to carry out happy and meaningful live in comparison to previous

• They crave feedback and praise, which can be perceived as high maintenance. • Their parents continue to insinuate themselves into their children’s lives, leaving others to question the millennials’ independent thinking abilities.

Across the nation, people are talking about the Millennial generation and how different they are compared to others, but are they really that different? Millennials are lazy, entitled, and selfish, or as you may have heard may be essential to the modern workplace, either way, they are being talked about whether it is good or bad. To put it in other words, past generations are concerned for what the future will look like with this technology-dependent generation, but is that a bad thing if the technology is only going to advance from here on out? The older generation is being too harsh or are they just genuinely concerned about the future? Joel Stein (2013) has written an article about the Millennials, it is titled Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation he argues for them being a selfish generation but by saying that it is not a bad thing. The second article is by Liz Zarka (2017) Generation Me: The Millennial Generation’s obsession with being unique, she argues that they are the generation that needs to be concerned for. After reading both of these articles I agree with some of the points that both of these authors make, however, there are also some sections that I disagree with. My perception of the situation is that millennials may have all these negative characteristics but use them to an advantage that no other generation can has; along with the advancement of technology and the use of social media may have increased the narcissistic trait in them, but they use these traits to get what they want, however, being narcissistic isn’t always good there can certainly be some disadvantages.

One common descriptor of Millennials from the mouths of older generations is ‘entitled.’ They feel that Millennials are ungrateful, demanding, and overly critical of a society they have yet to prove themselves to. This generation often “seek key roles in significant projects soon after their organizational entry and very early in the membership negotiation process,” causing older employees to see them as demanding of things they haven’t earned (Myers and Sadaghiani). They feel entitled in more than just work, feel they shouldn’t have to pay for things other did. A Harvard survey reveals that a majority of Millennials supported Bernie Sanders as a presidential candidate, mainly because of his claims to provide free college education (Harvard IOP Spring 2016 Poll). Many older generations were outraged by the

There was once a time that the world did not revolve around personal electronics and social media. People would live their day to day lives without ever having the need to pick up a phone. In today’s world that is not the case, the millennial generation, also known as the term “millennials” is often used to describe people of today. “The term Millennials is usually considered to apply to individuals who reached adulthood around the turn of the 21st century” (TechTarget, 2015). With this definition in mind, the millennials have been and still are surrounded by technology, “Millennials grew up in an electronics-filled and increasingly online and socially-networked world. They are the generation that has received the most marketing attention” (TechTarget, 2015).

According to the Goldman Sachs (2017) website there are about 9.2 millions Millennials in the United States. This generation is beginning to enter the work world or already has and the older generation doesn’t seem to understand them. Millennials can be hard to understand because with each and everyone of them technology has played into their lives and shaped them differently from older generations. The Millennial generation is looked down upon because of the amount of technology they use, but others don’t understand that technology is what makes the generation millennials. Millennial has had technology to help them become their own bosses, more informed and aware, and more educated.

Millennials are conceivably the most intriguing generation yet.  Millennials also known as Generation Y  are described by Bannon Shele as more technologically savvy, better educated, and more ethnically diverse than generation preceding them (Shele et al.61). Although this may be true, many would describe the millennial generation as lazy, entitled, and selfish. Many people believe this because millennials coresidence with their parents until their mid-20’s and in some cases even longer. Supporters of this assertion state millennials are living at home because they are too lazy to find sustainable work and too incompetent to save their money in order to afford a home of their own. However, these claims are just burned out stereotypes of the millennial generation. Millennials are choosing to live at home not because they are lackadaisical freeloaders, but because they are pursuing higher education, entering the workforce at a sensitive time, and housing cost are more expensive than ever before.

When it comes to core values and norms, Millennials take a less traditional approach to life compared to the older generations. Since Millennials make up a large portion of the population, everyone is trying to understand how they think and why they do the things they do. Millennials are often misunderstood because they are so different from other generations. Nowadays, Millennials are not quick to move out of their parent’s house, get married, or have ownership of something such as cars and luxury goods. (Goldmansachs) This is because Millennials prefer experience over ownership. It is no coincidence that the two most popular phrases of all time “YOLO” (you only live once) and “FOMO” (fear

In the interview with Sinek (2016), he states that millennials were subject to “…’failed parenting strategies,’…growing up in a Facebook/Instagram world…grown up in a world of instant gratification…” and that we thrust them “…in corporate environments that care more about numbers than they do about the kids.” The very first point Sinek mentions is parenting strategies. Such as parents making their children feel as though they are the most precious child in the world, or that specific child receiving an award for either participation, last place, or even existing. Those millennials then begin to embed those ideas into their minds: the idea that they are unique, the idea that they can have anything they want without having to lift a finger; which can affect their behavior. In addition to that, once millennials complete their

There has been debates on how people view millennials, whether one side puts them under a negative light or argues that they are working to make society exceptional. In discussions of millennials, one controversial view is that millennials are entitled, narcissistic people who are dependent on their parents. In an article titled Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation written by Joel Stein and a video created by MsMojo titled “Top 10 Reason Why Millennials Are Hated” give their different perspectives on the topic. Joel Stein gives his perspective on millennials, arguing that although they may be the narcissistic and entitled, they can be beneficial to our society. On the other hand, while MsMojo state that they don’t necessarily despise millennials, give a perspective on why millennials are hated by other generations. My own view is that not all millennials are dependent and lazy, but instead are trying their best to work hard and help make our society remarkable.

An average teenager in The U.S. will spend up to 9 hours a day consuming media, reported by CNN. Welcome to the “life” of a Millennial. A Millennial is believed to have been born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. Millennial’s are often referred to as the “Microwave Generation”, because they like to have instant success and gratification – the idea of waiting is an unknown phenomenon. This sadly may not be the case for all of us. Authors Christopher S. Alexander of King’s College, and James M. Sysko of Eastern Illinois State University, states that, “The Millennials seem to bring with them a hedonism, narcissism, and cavalier work ethic previously unknown in the American workforce.” In contrast, I believe that the negative connotations linked with my generation are untrue to a certain extent. Millennials possess such characteristics which allow us to be efficient thinkers, skillful collaborators and very tech savvy. Acquiring these qualities allow us to have an immense advantage over the previous generations.