The term ‘millennial’ is often used in media to describe the individuals born in the years of 1989 through 2000. Millennials have become a popular topic of discussion among many individuals due to their independent ideas based around everyday life. Many argue that millennials are entitled, narcissistic, and not capable to function as an adult due to these behaviors. These ideas, such as how they have grown up to how they work at their careers, all stem from the opposite viewpoints of those who believe that millennials are acting either immorally or creatively. Some individuals who are associated personally to the new generation, such as parents, believe arguments entirely polar to those who work with or teach the newer generation. These opposing views are cause for many discussions about the attitudes and mindsets of millennials regarding ideas such as money, children, or schoolwork. Many disagree on the facts of the argument; some believe that the attitudes and actions of millennials are developed as a child while others believe that it is the adult phase of their lives that is to blame. A few of the active voices in the argument regarding millennials can be found from their parents, school teachers, bosses, financial advisors, and even millennials themselves.
Though there are many different parenting strategies that claim to be the best at raising the perfect child, there are claims that certain parenting tactics may be the reason that millennials have become so altered from previous generations. Sources claim that millennials are more entitled and narcissistic from their boomer parents and that they, the parents, are initially to blame. In an article written by Richard Watts entitled, A Boomer Parent’s Apology to Millennials, he goes on explain that the boomer parents need to take full responsibility for how millennials have grown up. Watts begins his article by stating, “What is your problem Millennials? We have given you everything!” (Watts). Watts later goes on to explain that baby boomers altered their parenting strategies to not be the strict, rule-following parents like theirs. He states, “We decided to give our kids everything we didn’t have and rejected teaching them some of the hard lessons we did have. We insisted our kids succeed and make us proud according to our expectations…” (Watts).
He claims that baby boomer parents sheltered their children to protect them from every little thing and then sent them out into the real world expecting their children to survive. Watts’ argument claims that though he agrees on the quality of the argument, he disagrees on the fact of what caused millennials to truly become the way that they are. He goes on to apologize to all millennials on behalf of all parents, explaining that they, the parents, thought that they were raising the kids to be best friends with them because they didn’t want to make raising them not enjoyable. Watts ends his article by promising to be better parents and stating, “Sorry we got a late start at being your parents . . . but we have never stopped loving you. We were intentionally spoiling you, unintentionally” (Watts). Regarding the argument of whether millennials are a problem generation, Watts explains that he disagrees with all the facts blaming millennials solely. The parenting of millennials created the entitled mindset that millennials have been branded with.
Even if millennial parents may be known as “drone parents”, they send their children to school from childhood to their adult years so teachers can watch over them for 6-8 hours a day. Some teachers and professors must deal with unruly students for five days of the week and those students can potentially lead to aggravated parents. A study was conducted in 2010 by Kari Much to observe how millennials react to certain issues that arise in an academic setting such as a university. The observers noticed an increased rate of parental participation in the students’ lives and stated, “…students continue to rely on their parents to help them at the collegiate level, because contact continues much as it did in high school, only electronically instead of face-to-face” (Much). University staff members not only saw parental guidance, but also longing to be the exception to rules. The study showed that millennial students often asked for the rules to be altered for them and that many claimed that they could not attend class or participate in other assignments due to their work or other reasons.
The study states, “According to interviewees, students do not appear to take responsibility for their own behavior across many aspects of their lives. Interviewees spoke at length about their perceptions that students blame others for their own actions, even when the student’s responsibility was obvious to the observer” (Much). This study disagrees on the quality of the argument about millennials and their attitudes. Much agrees that parents are somewhat to blame about the new generation, though she disagrees on how serious the argument is. She claims that the problem with millennials is not only because of different parents’ tactics, but that it is more serious than that. Millennials are becoming a generation that can not focus on schoolwork by themselves and would rather make excuses than make due dates on time. Much ends her research by stating that not all millennials are the same and to treat each student as an individual. Her argument relies on the disagreement on quality and that the millennial generation and their habit’s may be more serious than just drone parents and may affect every aspect of everyday life.
