Technology : The Millennial Generation

Lazy. Narcissistic. Ignorant. These are some of the many terms used to describe the Millennial generation. Much of this criticism has come from the generation of Baby Boomers, who believe that Millennials are the least useful generation in the United States because of their ignorance on the economy and politics (Shapiro, 2015). Many generations though, have came and gone, each having its unique impact in it’s time. Each have had key instances and historical event which they are remembered for like the Greatest Generation and their perseverance through the Great Depression and fighting in WWII (How the Greatest Generation Works,2011); the Silent generation with growing up in the Great Depression and having the leaders of the civil rights movement (Snook,n.d) ; the Baby Boomers for the civil rights movement and the stability they grew up in. Generation X being the new leaders and being first the to be introduced to technology(Taylor & Gao,2014). Millennials are the children of technology since they grew up

Ultimately, millennials have been born into and have grown up with this new school of things and millennials will continue to engage and pioneer the world in ways that are foreign to those who aren’t raised with the technological advances the average millennial has come accustomed too. According to the whitehouse.gov, “Millennials are more connected to technology than previous generations and a quarter of Millennials believe that their relationship to technology is what makes their generation unique. While all generations have experienced technological advances, the sheer amount of computational power and access to information that Millennials have had at their fingertips since grade-school is unparalleled. Computational processing power has roughly doubled every 2 years, and storage prices continue to drop.” (pg. 7, para 2) A Pew Research also states that, “three-quarters have created a profile on a social networking site. One-in-five have posted a video of themselves online.” (para. 4) Technology has become such a staple in modern society for millennials that this way of life and form of communication is almost a necessity. On the other hand, those who are unfamiliar with this form of expression might find it distasteful, as Stein puts it, “Millennials are interacting all day but almost entirely through a screen. You've seen them

Millennials are “echo-boomers” born between the years of 1976-2004. A diverse generation of individuals continually misguided by society and stereotyped based on discernable predispositions.

Technology is an ever expanding field that began during their generation. It just so happened that this generation grew up with such technologies. Their use of the technology is what sets them apart from generations before them. Thielfoldt, D., & Scheef, D. (2004) states that: “Technology has always been part of their lives, whether it's computers and the Internet or cell phones and text pagers.” Generation Y has been subjected to technology since they were born, and it has in turn shaped who they are as individuals. If an individual were to ask a handful of Millennials a question that they didn’t know, and

Millennials are characterized by technology and technology characterizes them, such has happened in a technology fueled society,

In the 21st century technology has become such a big part of our society; it is so powerful because it affects everyone all over the world. For example, technology not only affects children and young adults in their workspace, such as in school or throughout their careers, but also in their day-to-day personal lives. In this day and age, because of the convenience which technology can provide, people have learned to become so dependent on technology to the extent that many of them cannot imagine their lives without it. For instance, nowadays it is very common to see people on their smart phones,

Technology is the foundation of a teenager’s everyday life. It is hard for them, and myself, to imagine our lives without it. I am always on my cell for either work, communication, or entertainment, but sometimes it feels as if I am addicted to my cell phone, and I would say that my friends may even be worse. Even though I may be connected with everyone on social media, it’s hard to say I have a real connection with them in real life. Technology is unarguably one of the greatest achievements in history, but I think it has limits and restrictions on people’s social lives, including millennials. Technology hinders millennials from developing deep, meaningful relationships, gives them a false sense of reality, and creates impatience and lack of focus.

There is much debate between people when it comes to defining who really are Millennial. Some academic say that Millennial are born between 1980 and 1995, some say 1985- 1999 and while other say that it between 1990- 2002. Millennial also called by other various names such as Y generation after X generation, Digital Natives, since they brought up technology and the boomerang generation because of statistics that show that many born during this time moved back with their parents in early adulthood due either to economic circumstances or because they are waiting longer to pursue careers and marriage according to Lundin, Laura L., Salem Press Encyclopedia, but the purpose of this paper will be called them Millennial.

Millennials are the generation from about the years 1980-2000 and have relied heavily on technology as it is quickly evolving. People today know Millennials as young adults or teenagers that are starting to begin and plan for their future plans. If a survey was put out to all none Millennials; most of the responses would be that Millennials rely on technology way too much. The reason the Millennials have a bad look is because people do not take the time to look at the positive side of things such as how they use technology, how hard working they are, and all of the good things they are always doing.

In an ever changing world there is always some new technology to learn how to use or a new app begging for your attention. Millennials are tied at the hip to the latest and greatest technology and it is affecting their everyday lives. If you were to walk around any campus across the United States, students would have their eyes glued to their phone screens. In class, walking around campus, or in the library millennials are always on their phones and it is affecting their time management skills as students attending college in the digital age.

Let us first evaluate what is a millennial. According to Joel Stein of Time magazine “Millennials consist, depending on whom you ask, of people born from 1980 to

Technology appears more and more in today’s youth’s lives. Add this to the advent of the smartphone as a staple in households with 91% of adolescents using modern technology (computers, phones, etc.) regularly, it is easy to see why teachers and parents feel their students know more about technology then they do (). This mentality, however, leads adults to the critical error of assuming children do not need to be taught technology if anything adults should be using technology to teach. As the article “Even Digital Natives’ Need Digital Training” elaborates students today lack important skills in online etiquette, safety, and productivity that must be addressed by the educational system. If it is not, adolescents can harm themselves (McNeill). With this in mind, the described digital problem, the actual student risk, and the simple teacher solution shows that students are more than technology fools but still technology learners.

Millennials, born between the years 1982 to 2000 (Gilbert, 2011), are the largest generation since the Baby Boomer generation. Many millennials are already in the work force, and the last millennials will be entering the workforce in the coming years. Just as their predecessors, millennials are thought of as spoiled and lazy by the older generations. Ask any veteran police officer what they did when they were given an order by a supervisor- they did what he were told. Now ask that veteran officer what millennials do and they will tell you millennials want an explanation for everything and question authority. The complaints from older generations about younger generations is nothing new. Even Socrates complained about the younger generation. He is attributed to have made the following statement concerning the youth of his day:

to high school graduates. (Dunlop para 2). I believe that this shows to some extent that they are

A generation with missing pieces. It is said that the Millennials have a certain feeling of entitled now a days. This all has to do with the bubble we have created for our millennials that once they have to go out too reality they lose themselves. We have let them believe that just because they want something they can have it, but we have not shown them the skills of how to work for it. Our millennial generation does not have the same principles and ethics that were instilled on previous generations. I agree with Sinek. The parenting structure we have created for our millennials is one of the reason for their self-interested entitlement. The impact technology has in our millennials daily lives. Millennials are in such a rush to make and