Generation-Y. Millennials. Social Media’s Kings and Queens.
Our generation can be an abundance of beliefs and actions. We love to push the boundaries of society, yet we go crying to Mommy and Daddy when we get offended by what another person thinks. We have come a long way of accepting each other for who we are, but still have a long road ahead of us. We say we’re the best, the future of society, the ones who will change the world, the ones who will make America great again…but in reality, we’re not.
Our generation sucks.
Yes, I, a member of the Generation-Y, is confident that our generation sucks.
Our generation loves social media and it loves us back. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, have taken over our lives. We are so focused on our social media personas that we lose touch of our true being. We care so highly for “likes” and “retweets”, and the number of each determines if we’re cool or popular. We care about showing the world a person that is not truly us, instead of being a person that we’re proud to call real. Girls of all ages download apps to their iPhones to airbrush their face, body, and hair to make them “flawless” and “perfect”. Are you kidding me? We should not be tearing down the self-esteem of girls and women to make them feel any less than who they are. We are socialized to think that anything less than perfect is unacceptable and that perfection is considered acceptable.
We are consistently finding something wrong with ourselves and others, causing us to tear one another down. We should be building each other up and encouraging one another to accept and love themselves. Girls need true, real role models to look up to, NOT ones who are not true to themselves.
Our generation expects everything to be handed to us on a silver platter.This is not to say every millennial is like this, but a good chunk of us are. We expect internships and jobs to be given, not earned. What happened to work ethic? What happened to receiving your dream job because you worked your ass off in college? It’s sad that I have heard stories over the years that my fellow peers have CHEATED on their exams. Yes, you read that right, they are cheating. College is the place where you are supposed to learn and prepare you for your future job. Instead, that degree they so-called “earned” will become absolutely meaningless. So much for doing your work and studying, right? We are the definition of lazy. In fact, you can probably find a picture of our generation under the word “lazy” in the dictionary. Don’t believe me? Well you still probably won’t get up and look in the dictionary anyways.
Our generation has become offended by EVERY single thing said or done. I recently read an article where “safe zones” on college campuses are a place to go when something someone says makes you uncomfortable or upset. Please read that sentence again. I’m sorry, but are we in kindergarten again? No, we are not; we’re adults. College is also a place to challenge ideas and talk about controversial issues happening in our society. Instead, if something offends you, we have “safe zones” because our generation has become the ultimate adult cry baby. Say goodbye to freedom of speech because our generation cannot handle opposition.
Reality check: The world after college does not care about your feelings and if you sit in a corner and cry because you could not handle hearing something uncomfortable. We need to learn to stand up for ourselves and to deal with offensive things in the right manner at the right time, rather than to be coddled in college like babies.
Our generation can falter at times and may seem to be headed down the wrong track, but I’m hopeful we aren’t all going to have a terrible outcome. Each millennial is different than the next, both in what they think and do, including myself. We know and have experienced more than perhaps previous generations before us. We are in no way close to being a perfect generation, but we can learn from our mistakes to make ourselves better.
Featured image via Thiago on Pexels
