OPINION BY KYLEE BARANEK
Baby boomers often stereotype millennials as entitled and lazy. Yet, we have way more to deal with, at our age then they did. Now not only are there advances in technology, but also in the way we view the world.
“I believe that millennials have it harder because there is greater pressure in the world we live in today,” says Jordan Barnhart, 11. “This pressure stems from the constant eye of social media and the ideology of going to college.”
The age that baby boomers grew up in was one lacking social media and the technology that is needed to use it. Social interaction consisted of hanging out with other children in the neighborhood. They did not have the ability to communicate with others through the use of social media like we do, today. Technology was of little to no meaning to them when it first started developing rapidly and it did not begin to take a prominent role in society until the 1980s. It is also no surprise that technology can distract us from other important things. However, this infusion of technology on one’s life was something that baby boomers did not have to deal with, even if they did have some technology, it is incomparable to the amount of technology that is present in a millennial’s life today. But it is something that we, as millennials, have to.
Social interaction through technology has been infused within a millennial’s life from the moment they are born to the moment they die. Everything they post on any social media makes them vulnerable as everyone with a phone, laptop, or tablet can see it. Millennials live in a judgmental world which is presented in the form of constant peer pressure. This is where a lot of the pressure being a millennial comes from, and what baby boomers prefer to attack them with, when they claim that millennials are always on technology. But, millennials have figured out that it makes interactions between each other much easier, as well as staying in touch with the world around them. This does not justify an accusation from baby boomers that millennials are addicted to their technology. Not only is the accusation of being addicted to technology false, but so is the accusation that millennials are entitled. Standards have risen from elementary success rates to college acceptance rates. This time period has become one that values education, hard work, and commitment. Millennials showcase what it means to be determined, what it means to be intelligent, what it means to be dedicated. This debunks the theory that life is easier on millennials.
According to the 2013 U.S. census, only 16. 23% of millennials have not sought any secondary schooling, while that rate for baby boomers without secondary education is 29. 98% of the generation. This demonstrates that millennials have reached higher standards in education.
Millennials have reached new standards in education and technology. They have revolutionized the business world, the academic world, and society, itself. Millennials are not entitled. Millennials are not lazy. Millennials are not addicted to technology. Millennials instead have lived with this criticism all of their lives, but they continue to work harder and strive for success. They have surpassed the baby boomers, and are working on achieving greatness everyday.
