OUR VIEW: LEARNING LESSONS

Millennials aren’t as bad as you think

Despite receiving criticism for being entitled, lazy and way too addicted to their phones, society has the opportunity to learn a lot of things from millennials about learning, changing and advancing.

Although there are no set birth years for specific generations, millennials (or generation Y), are born somewhere between the late 1980s and the early 2000s according to most definitions.

Baby Boomers and generation X, for the most part, are frustrated by millennials’ strong connection and maybe even addiction to phones and technology in general. Millennials’ strong draw to technology has influenced society greatly and helped more millennials become entrepreneurs at a younger age.

Fifty-four percent of Generation Y either want to start a business or have already started one and approximately 27 percent are self-employed, according to the Kauffman Foundation and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce respectively.

Millennials are often criticized for rejecting traditional values, but research by Bentley University’s Center For Women and Business shows that over 75 percent claim morality and unwillingness to compromise family and personal values. Millennials tend to be much more tolerant of races and groups than older generations. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 47 percent of generation Y are extremely tolerant of minority groups, as opposed to 19 percent of other generations. According to Millennial Branding, a site dedicated to conducting polling and studies about Generation Y, over 63 percent of Gen Y workers have a Bachelor’s Degree. This means that millennials are on track to become the most educated generation in American history. This strongly suggests that millennials aren’t all as lazy as some in older generations stereotype them to be. Millennials can be very ambitious, determined to reach their goals and live the lifestyle that they want. Millennials aren’t afraid of the status quo so they are more apt to choosing the careers and lives that they want. According to a INC. com poll, 64 percent of millennials would rather make $40,000 a year at a job they love than $100,000 a year at a job they think is boring. Almost all young people struggle and millennials are no exception. Despite all their flaws, millennials’ ability to change, adapt and persevere despite major doubts is something to learn from. Millennials are living in a constantly changing world for which they must be prepared to fight for themselves, for their futures and to hopefully unify an increasingly divided society.

Millennials are likely to struggle through many crises like their combined 1 trillion dollars in debt and their doubt that Social Security will still exist by the time they are eligible. So next time your grandfather says that millennials have nothing to offer remind him that even though millennials aren’t perfect, everyone still has a lot to learn. Or next time you look down on someone younger, remember that once you were learning, growing and changing just like them.