Millennials

Millennials are...

It would be far too easy to let the countering of vitriol hijack this project, since there appears to be an almost overwhelming amount of negativity directed at Millennials. Although this search screen capture is hardly a conclusive piece of evidence, it is certainly telling that it is more difficult to find a positive suggested search phrase than a negative one starting with simply 'Millennials are.' There appears to be very little room for praise of Millennials (who many seem to believe have had quite enough of that already). This echoes the current political climate where even simple discourse has been almost entirely shut down between political parties regarding the selection of a new Supreme Court Justice (New York Times).

Don't forget broke, narcissistic, coddled, and unable to move out of their parents' basements. Although this kind of generational in-fighting might seem like a unique struggle to modern civilization, there is constant evidence going back to Ancient Greece of the 'old guard' complaining about the 'new.' "The total neglect of the art of speaking" for instance, or "lax habits, low moral standards," or "full of self-conceit and admiration" are all examples compiled in an article on Mental Floss from people all across time. Sound familiar?

In spite of this lack of acceptance, Millennials are one of the most accepting generations to date. Obergefell v. Hodges is a landmark Supreme Court decision, that as of June 2015 requires all United States to issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples applying for them, in addition, states are now required to recognize homosexual marriages performed in other jurisdictions. Popular social media such as Tumblr blogs and the popularity of actress Laverne Cox (Sophia Burset on Orange Is the New Black) are demonstrating the effectiveness of the inclusionary upbringing Millennials had. Even though Millennials are often accused of being selfish and constantly distracted by devices, the generation has supported and achieved some remarkable results from social media campaigns. Millennials certainly haven't stopped being active about campaigning for social justice, as some of the accusations suggest - they just changed venues from the physical to the digital.

Are Millennials Unmotivated?

Remember the ice bucket challenge? It was to support the ALS Association for finding a cure to ALS, where people would literally dump a bucket of ice water over their head, donate to the cause, and tag others in social media. It worked for awareness and raising money. They recorded donations upwards of $115 million and most importantly they made their spending wildly available and understandable - by way of infographic, a trendy new way to impart information in the digital era (Wolff-Mann).

One of the largest social media campaigns is It Gets Better. Although harder to objectively analyze its success, the campaign is one of the most well known for having videos from all kinds of people, famous or not, trying to let LGBT youth know that the struggles they might face at the time will not always be so. This campaign came in direct response to the bullying, teasing, and hopelessness plaguing LGBT teens around the world as a resource for empathy and understanding.

These are just a few examples of the campaigns that social media, the weapon of choice for Millennials, have inspired and made possible.

"In fact guess what... you can be whoever you are and like whoever you like and WE should spread the love and acceptance we constantly say we don’t receive," a quote from Ruby Rose (another star in Orange Is the New Black) who identifies as gender fluid. Although Ruby is referencing stereotyping and hate specifically within the LGBT community itself, the words ring true for the young generations of today in general. This sort of broad inclusion is not limited to just marriage equality, or LGBT rights, but acceptance of all different facets of life that have only just begun to emerge from obscurity. Older generations might claim that technology corrupted people or invented fluid genders, but the truth is likely more along the lines of these vagaries of humanity having always existed but are only just now being widely recognized.

Are Millennials Undisciplined?

Or just unlucky? Due to the 2008 crash many Millennials matured into a recession, and suffered the consequences. In 2013, Millennial take home was the lowest average earning since 1980, and this is despite record high numbers of college attendance (New York Times). This education came with a costly 234% rise in tuition as well as debt that is nearly doubled from just "two decades earlier" (New York Times). Without a corresponding rise in salary enjoyed by earlier generations, is it any wonder that more and more Millennials have to move back in with mom?

Due to the necessity college is seen as more and more Millennials are attending despite the tuition hike, and graduating with high debt. "Saddled with debt and thin paychecks" Millennials tend to avoid the big purchases - cars, houses - that older generations held as signs of success. In the current market they simply aren't practical purchases for most Millennials, who can ill afford rent that is approaching the record highs last seen in 2000. (New York Times).

If a Millennial finally manages to find a job, however, there's a whole new set of judgements against them. The truth is that Millennials do not fit within the existing professional environment. Although some may assume this is a bad thing many, many more are observing this as a good thing. Gloria Cordes Larson, president of Bentley University is among those leaders to say "[Millennials] are changing the workplace for the better" and that most importantly, the work environment and its leaders need to change with it (Fortune). It would be a folly for older generations to insist that new generations have only the best in everything - except the workplace, where of course they must suffer the same as everyone else. Would it not make more sense to eliminate this perceived suffering period?

"While millennials care about the bottom line of a company, they also care about their community and the environment" (Fortune). Larson describes it as a "triple bottom line" way of thinking, a more comprehensive view of culture, and a more fluid one (Fortune). Millennials rarely consider there to be a hard and fast delineation between 'work' and 'life' which is a continuation of the dialogue on this balance started by Gen X (Insperity). As more and more Millennials take on leadership roles the importance once placed on "what you wear" and "where you are" is lessened considerably in preference for productivity - so long as the work gets done (Insperity).

Are Millennials Addicted to the Internet?

Of all the negative claims against Millennials, this one is likely to hold the most truth. One of the drawbacks of being the first generation to grow up with technology widely available since a young age, is also being the guinea pigs for it's long term effects. In this case, there were no PSA's in school telling kids to be careful how much time they spent on computers and on the internet, and Millennials grew up to spend more time with screens than without. This has had physiological consequences as well as psychological.

Research has shown "some changes in the brain" of users who are addicted to the internet, including "reductions in volume" and white matter, described as "the highways of connection between brain cells" (Forbes). This means that even if there is a controversy over accepting Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) as a true disorder research has shown evidence of actual physicalchanges in the brain that are similar to the addictions of alcohol and drugs (Forbes).

Going forward it would be ideal not to dramatically overreact and campaign for the elimination of technology and the internet, but rather treat this as we would any other useful but potentially addictive tool - with the dissemination of knowledge and teaching our children appropriate behavior from a young age. As studies are only just now catching up to the problems we are witnessing from too much time spent with screens, the process will essentially be trial and error to find the healthy balance between too much and not enough to stay connected.

Whats Next?

Millennials are causing changes…but these changes are often for the better. This supposed animosity between young and old has repeated across time immemorial and serves as an important lesson to Millennials as they grow up and interact with iGen and other generations to come. Like everything about Millennials, the technology that is so connected to the generation comes with both benefits and drawbacks.