'Talkin' bout My Generation'

Jimmy Biblarz, a student in the humanities magnet at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, writes:

Released by The Who in 1965, the song "My Generation" has become a 1960s anthem listened to around the world. It is widely considered one of the greatest songs of all time, and has managed to maintain relevance 43 years after its release.

The song still rings true to a lot of American kids; we still don't want to get old and end up like our parents. Read some of the lyrics:

"People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

Just because we get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

With them, the band expresses a sentiment most young adults share. My generation has been labeled a lot of things by "people trying to put us down." We've been called Generation Y, Generation ME, Millennials, the Internet Generation, and even Generation Einstein. We are mostly the children of Baby Boomers and early Gen X adults and were born between 1980 and 1994. We have also been labeled the laziest generation ever. Baby Boomers and Gen X have stereotyped us as a cohort of kids that because of instant messaging, Myspace and Facebook, seek instant gratification. We are impatient and unwilling to work hard, according to many, hence the name Generation ME.

It is also said we are so dependent on our parents, we live with them sometimes into our late 20s and even early 30s. This has then created a group of Baby Boomer "helicopter parents," who even after children move out, stay actively involved in their children's lives. Demographers and sociologists say that these "helicopter parents" have a negative effect on the maturity levels and development of children in my generation. Business owners and college professors have labeled us demanding, impatient, and poor communicators.

We have no work ethic, and are also unable to articulate ourselves creatively. It is estimated that individuals in my generation will switch jobs more than any generation before us, and that we are incredibly aware of the brand of things we are buying. We are also the most technical generation ever to live. A recent poll showed that 97% of college students have a computer, 94% have a cell phone, 76% use instant messaging, 75% have a Facebook account, and 60% have an iPod.

My generation rarely gets any positive labels, so I imagine I share similar feelings with Pete Townshend and the rest of The Who when they produced "My Generation." My cohort is assumed to be lazy, incapable of solving the immense problems the Baby Boomers left behind for us, dependent on our parents, and impatient.

I disagree completely. My generation has learned incredibly sophisticated technology in an incredibly short time; a feat many of our parents and grandparents are unable to accomplish. Studies have also shown that we are more naturally intelligent than previous generations.

I am president of my school's Young Democrats Club, and every Thursday we have very intellectual discussions (Oliver Brown, another writer on The Times Homerooom blog, is also in the club.) Everyone participates, and after every meeting our club sponsor tells me how excellent she thinks we are doing. Its not just in Young Democrats either. Kids are smart. We are more politically and socially aware than Baby Boomers and Gen X'ers give us credit for. I have no doubt we will be able to solve all the problems the world faces (It would have been easier if the Baby Boomers hadn't created these problems, but that's another story.) To quote, "My Generation," "Why don't you all f-fade away? And don't try to dig what we all s-say (talkin' 'bout my generation." And to all you adults trying to put us down, listen to "My Generation," and try and look at my generation differently.

Drawing by and courtesy of John Entwistle

Comments

[trrish]

Hi Jimmy,

I love this post of yours. My own little tiny caution would be, please don't stereotype the older generations either. ALL baby boomers do not think your generation is lazy! I think we place too much importance on generation, anyway. I always felt out of step with "my generation" and hate reading sweeping generalizations about us or about you.

trrish

[Dawn]

Hi Jimmy and all.

I am 47 (part of that baby boom generation). I can certainly understand your feelings; all those stereotypes you mentioned are publicly discussed as truth. I just wanted you to know that they do not speak for all of us.

I work with youth of all economic classes and find much promise and energy in my groups. Lately I have been teaching seminars about working with youth. My message is that this new generation is full of promise, highly intelligent, adaptable and resilient. Baby boomers and Xers will need to change their ways in order to keep up with you and remain relevant.

You and your peers are my best hope for a better future and I hope to convince others of the same!
Dawn

[Marc]

Hey how can generation y still be living with their parents into their early 30's if the oldest of the bunch (born from 1980-1994) is only 28??? Just thought I should point that out to you.

[Will]

This post is typical self-indulgence and narcissism of YOUNG people for ANY GENERATION. Of course there is beautiful irony that you illustrate but don't explain when the Townsend song's lyrics is from the (one of the) same generation you say gives you no respect and frustrates you.

A few tips from those of us who have been there, done that and have the t-shirt:

* Blaming anyone, let alone another generation, makes you look petty ("problems the boomers caused") to everyone - even your peers.
* Give yourself props (being more "tech savy")... smacks of typical elitism and doesn't garner any more respect when we all know there is another generation coming after you.
* General whining, which has never solved any of the worlds problems, about not being respected doesn't rally any troops of do-gooders to your side or generally inspire.

So... Grow a thicker skin, do something of consequence by putting your talent, energy and resources at risk and history will respect you not for being of certain generation (or being "more aware" or "smarter") but because you didn't wait for people to approve of you tirelessly seeking to improve the world around you for all generations.

[kevin]

I disagree with the groundless assertion that the millenial generation is more intelligent than previous generations. I think there is more self-flattering opinion than fact behind that statement. I am also not at all impressed with the mastering of technological gadgets as a sign of intelligence, because the use of these tools have no proven correlation with intelligence. Have you ever been waited upon by a young person operating a cash register who is unable to do mental math when he or she pushes a wrong key and is forced to compute how much change is due the customer? It happens more frequently among the younger set than it does among the older ones, who are less reliant upon technology to tell them how much change is due.

Younger people tend to rely heavily upon grammer and spell check when writing assignments in grade school and college, thus diminishing their writing abilities as well. It is also well-chronicled that younger people frequently have lower levels of historical and cultural knowledge, particularly about the past. Such a lack of knowledge does not correlate well with the development of overall intelligence, and attests to many young people developing a sense of over-inflated importance about themselves and the times they live in, as they become self-centered and narcissistic. True education is literally defined as moving out of your own self-oriented world and becoming knowledgeable about past as well as present periods of time.

Computer technology is not valued as the purpose of living by previous generations the way it is now among the younger generation; the comment about older people being unable to learn it is not as much true as the idea that older people have lived their lives functioning quite well without technology, and therefore see no real need to indulge in it to the same extent. An intelligent person does not need much technology to live in a successful manner, and computers do not make the user more intelligent any more than television does, as it is an instrument that fosters passive mental traits. A good old-fashioned book develops the mind more than computers and 21st century technology ever will. Speaking of books, the present generation of young people, whether they realize it or not, is in danger of becoming the type of society written about by Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451, and if you know much about this book, that is not a flattering thing.

I do not mean to be negative, but there needs to be more balance and accuracy in the way the current generation of younger people is portrayed, with regard to supposedly being smarter and better. I have interacted with enough members of the millenial generation to know that while they know more about computers due to more exposure and greater usage, they are usually less knowledgeable about a wider range of topics not related to the narrow confines of their worlds. In the final analysis, I see little if any evidence that they are any more intelligent than previous generations, though they like to believe they are, and some reach the simplistic but flawed conclusion based on their use of computer technology.

Sincerely,
Kevin