Generation Z By David Mccullough Essay

Arlie Russel Hochschild adheres to a variety of assertions in his article, “Gen Fill in the Blank” concerning what he thinks a generation means. It was proposed that generations are solely branded by the pivotal impact they undergo as a cohort during historical events; hence, sharing a common response to those events. Hochschild furthers this idea by introducing generational identity and how that’s defined by the conceptions that society invokes upon a generation. Furthermore, he includes that an important factor making up modern day’s generation is the external burden of American Individualism; this universal pressure has robbed us of our ability to care and resulted in a profound deficiency of “cultural expression”.

Overall, I support Merryman’s claim that society rewards all participants despite their qualifications to hold the title of a “winner”. Today the term “winner” has become a cliché where people have driven the idea of success to the brink of extinction. Meaning, that society has over produced the idea of a winner to the extent that some other title would have to replace the phrase “Congratulations, you are a winner”. Personally, I believe that Merryman demonstrates the effect that as children are constantly provided trophies, certificates, and other methods of reward, each of these materials tend to tamper with the foundation of the meaning of being a true victor. Merryman states that, “nonstop recognition does not inspire children to succeed. Instead it causes them to under achieve;” with this statement, Merryman shows the key idea that as children

In the article “Dangers of an ‘everyone gets a trophy’ culture?” Ashley Merryman interviews thirty seven children to see what they think about participation trophies. One kid, Levey Friedman, said to Ashley Merryman “Well, I kind of purposely played in this esiar one because I knew I would win and now I don’t really count that as a real victory because I went in and I knew it was below my level.” In other words Levey Friedman only played on the lower level sports team to win. One year when I played soccer we only won one out of thirteen games. At the end of the year we got our trophies and awards and now every time I see the soccer trophy it just reminds me of how bad our team was and how bad we did that season. Kids know when a sport is below their level so it's dangerous to think that everyone's a

Growing up, they will have learned through the awards that they are all winners, even though that is not the case. Berden states, “Trophies for all convey an inaccurate and potentially dangerous life message to children: we are all winners.” As they continue life, all they would have learned in these environments is that there is no need for competition and to be constantly rewarded. Throughout their life, they should learn that hard work will give you results in the real world and that without it, you will not be handed everything in life. An example of this is, “We begin to expect awards and praise for just showing up- to class, practice, and after school jobs- leaving us woefully unprepared for reality.”

Anne Kingston, in her article “Get ready for generation Z,” explains and gives examples of Generation Z is losing some skills because of technology. Also, Generation Z “decides” where the rest of the world will go. Anne uses different scenarios to prove her point. She once saw a little girl using a magazine as if it were a tablet and once she had gotten her tablet from her mom, the little girl totally checked out and didn't acknowledge her mother at all. Although, Kingston does state generation Z is losing the skill of communication she does acknowledge that they are also very independent and work hard and get things done when they want to, and they should not be taken for granted.

Participation trophies give children the unrealistic expectation that attendance matters more than hard work and effort. This is shown by the current generation known as the Millenials; the Millenials are the individuals born from the period 1985 to present day. This generation is known for over praising children, and the result

In the article “The Greatest Generation: The Great Depression and the American South,” Jeffrey DeRoven analyzes the economic struggles of the American South during the Great Depression in order to figure out why some people refer to people from that time period as the “greatest generation.” Below, this paper overviews DeRoven’s thesis, purpose, stance, audience, usage of literary techniques as well as logos, pathos and ethos, logical fallacies, and ultimately concludes with an opinion suggesting that DeRoven’s analysis is mostly sound and useful, but limited in proving his thesis.

The general argument made by Berdan in her work, “Participation Trophies Send A Dangerous Message,” is that participation awards commemorate individuals for everyone being a winner. More specifically, Berdan argues that distributing participation trophies to all participants diminishes the meaning of the first, second, or third place trophy. She writes, “When awards are handed out like candy to every child who participates, they diminish in value.” In this passage, Berdan is suggesting that rewarding children constantly with a trophy decreases the value of the trophy that the actual winners earned. Personally, I agree with Berdan because I agree with the concept that providing children with constant rewards sends a dangerous message later in life. On the other hand, writer Eric Priceman defends his opinion that these continuous awards are a necessary part of the education process for young children and will benefit them to strive for better. More specifically, Priceman argues that there is a difference between an award and a reward; he states that an award is given for achievement while a reward is given for accomplishment. He writes, “Just syntax maybe, but anyone that has ever achieved at the highest level has had to endure multiple levels of accomplishment first.” In this passage, Priceman is suggesting that people who have reached the highest levels of trophies and medals have also been encouraged along the way with things such as participation awards. He describes the action of distributing participation awards similarly to encouraging phrases that motivate an individual to strive for greatness. Despite his argument, I believe Priceman is wrong because rewarding children with a meaningless trophy or certificate provides no benefit for them in their future. More specifically, I

An example of anguish and suffering due to ‘white’ policy laws, was the attempted genocide era also known as ‘the stolen generation’ which lasted for decades (Krieken 2009).The stolen generation era was a “systematic annihilation for Aboriginal cultural identity” (Krieken 2009, p. 297) because children were forcibly taken from their families to institutional facilities that were either run by charitable or religious organizations with the intention of ‘civilizing’ them so they can integrate into white Australian society (Krieken 2009). The Australian government commissioners believed that ‘breeding mixed blood’ Aborigines with white settles will eventually lead to the “colour being bred out of them” (McCarthy 2000, para. 3) whilst those who

The debate over participation trophies has become a widespread social issue in the United States, with many people unaware of the detrimental impact it has on the nation’s youth. According to a study done by Reasons Magazine 57% of Americans believe trophies should only be given out to winners. However, the younger generation; often called ‘Millennials’ tend to not agree with the majority. The Washington Post dubbed the under 25 years old age group the “participation trophy generation.” The 18-24 age group is the only group out of six that is more in favor of participation trophies rather than trophies only for winners, with the 25-34 age group in a close second. The chart provided by Reasons Magazine and Rupe polling clearly shows the younger

The first major liability of the United States was that no one had ever established a

It seems that we have an entitlement issue with our young adults; an issue even those young adults wholly admit to. But perhaps nothing betrays this point like the following chart. The Washington Post asked Americans whether kids who participate in youth sports should get trophies just for playing, or only for winning. A strong majority of Americans (57 percent) said only the winners, but then you look at the age breakdown. Though older Americans are overpoweringly in favor of trophies for winners only, those 18-24 favor participation trophies all around. I suppose its best now to make a name on this topic for this generation maybe titled “The Give Everything to for no Work” Generation. Here’s a big kick for you as well, Washington Post also posted a graph that showed those in favor of only preferring winners, also made more money than those that are all for participation trophies. So see everyone, winning really does pay. But it doesn’t just pay, it builds people into strong individuals that know what it’s like to fall down and get right back up. Those in favor for only having winners get trophies make on average 46% more than those in favor of “Everybody’s a Winner”.

When youth sports programs hand out trophies for participation, they teach kids that you only have to participate in order to win. An article states, “Having studied recent increases of narcissism and entitlement among students, she warns that when living rooms are filled with participation trophies, it’s part of a larger cultural message: to succeed, you just have to show up” (Losing is Good for You, nytimes.com). This will turn out to be a huge problem in a child’s future. It’s going to be a huge disappointment when a child learns that you must put effort into their work in order to excel.

People naturally like to generalise over a large group, it puts less stress on our brain. One such generalisation is the generations that people talk about, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millenials, and Gen Z. In “Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z” Alex Williams discusses a possible outcome of what Gen Z is to be as compared to the Millennials.

Technology is not all to blame for the stereotypes about Generation Z. Despite the negative comments about Generation Z being lazy and unaware, they are not at all. In fact, because most of them are technologically inclined and virtually updated, they are not apathetic, they’re just being teenagers who were raised in a different environment. This is why there is such a thing as generations in this world. If there weren’t any changes in the world, we wouldn’t even be able to tell if a new generation has come. Every generation has its benefits for a better and more advanced living.