At first I thought it was just me. Now halfway into my 50's maybe I am just too old to be tolerant, but after that weekend I realized it was not me IT WAS THEM!
I think you know this generation. They are all under 25, they have had more opportunity and privilege than any other generation. Yet for all this technology and privilege, they still think they are entitled to everything, and that nothing is required of them. A couple of years ago I was helping a student write a paper on the this generation and we found a book called "The Dumbest Generation" by Mark Bauerline. My student is in his 40's and from Guatemala. As we thumbed through the book, we both decided it was spot on an accurate depiction of this generation. So before I go into my rant of this generation and what is and is not wrong with them, let's touch on a few of the high points of this book (Bauerline, 2008):
Compared to previous generations, this generation has:
- More Schooling (college enrollments have never been higher)
- More Money (most have at least $100 per week of disposable income)
- More Leisure Time (on average 5 hours per week)
- More News and Information (Internet, Daily Show, RSS Feeds, etc)
- 9 of their 10 sites are for social networking
- Watch television or play video games
- Read (not even online - 2/3rd's are not proficient in reading) something I know to be true as a editor/tutor of college freshmen
- Follow politics (cannot even name their mayor, governor or senators and probably can't tell you who the last president was or the capital of their own state)
- Maintain any type of work ethic (if they work at all)
- Vote
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I wish I could blame this attitude on them just being young. But I had to ask myself how as a culture we managed to raise an entire generation of young people like this. There was only one answer - PARENTING. Be careful when you say "I wont raise my kids like that" or "I will do better than my parents", and think about how bad you might have turned out if it was not for them.
Now before you blast my blog with accusations that your kid is not like this, I understand that some people do parent. Please don't kill the messenger. If you are raising up a young American who cares about their future, my hat is off to you. Thank you for taking time to care enough to see that they grow up with character and standards. For the rest of you, let me tell one of my greatest regrets in raising our daughter - I did not let her fail enough. While she is not boxed into this generation of young adults, I did realize way too late that letting her fail at some things would make her a better person. When she hit her 20's, I had to let her fail, and it was not pretty. Today I can honestly say she is one of the most well adjusted, selfless, and hard working people I know. She and her husband (who definitely is not in that generation) work hard, they save money, they serve others, they do missions, and they would rather cut their arms off than ask us for anything.
My parents (as dysfunctional as they were) understood something. Failure would not kill me, in fact if anything it will make me stronger. Not allowing our children to fail, gives an unrealistic view of the world and promotes this attitude of entitlement. I clearly saw this at Acquire the Fire (yes during a Christian event) where youth were blatantly disrespecting their leaders, yelling at parents and yes, even confronting me on seating assignments. Sometimes when I'm at the grocery store, or shopping at a mall or department store, I just want to deck parents. Why are you arguing with a 10-year old about what they can or cannot wear? YOUR THE PARENT! They either wear what you buy or they don't get new clothes. Thank you if you don't let your 10-year old dress like a street walker. I go ballistic over parents who are trying to reason with children when they are 3, because I know 10 years later they are going to have opened Pandora's box for bad behavior and then not be able to do anything about it.
I work in corporate America and I had a 20-something engineering intern argue with me about process. His attitude was that he had a degree in engineering and knew what was best. I don't care what you know, our company has a standardized, systematic process for how we do things and you may have a better idea, but TODAY this is how we do it. Get some experience under your belt, grow into a company your planning on working at for more than 5 years and then try to change processes. Don't argue with the person that has probably written more process documents and procedures than you have ever read books on. Better yet, pay your parents back for that education that allows you to sit in a room full of engineers today.
For this generation, if you read my blog or your parents happen to run across my blog, I have something to say to you. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING. Entitlement comes later in life. It comes have you have earned it. It comes when you have moved out of your parents home, quit being dependent on them to pay your bills, and have earned the respect and admiration of your peers. You are not entitled to every new thing that comes off the shelf the minute it comes off the shelf. You want a $600 gaming system, get a job, save your money and buy it yourself. You will certainly appreciate it more than the one your parents gave you because they didn't want to listen to you whining about not having one. If you want to dress like a street walker, then move out of your parents home and go do that. If you don't want to grow up with sense of purpose or drive to accomplish anything or make a mark on this world that matters - stay where you are. When you are in your 30's or 40's and all your friends who "got a clue" are working, getting married and living the American dream you might finally figure it out.
Thankfully, God is not done with them yet. Like I said, I know a few parents who are parenting their kids and they refuse to allow the culture to dictate to their kids what they can and cannot do for success in this world. I call them a "remnant". Paul said something about this as well. In Romans 11:5-6, Paul wrote: So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
God has always reserved a generation of people that He can call His own, that He can depend on when the chips are down, and who listen and follow to His voice. Even this generation has remnant. While I see more of the bad than the good, what I see in the good far outweighs the bad. These are young people of purpose. They don't go to college so they can earn more money, they go to college to equip them to follow after God's plan for their lives. They give of their resources, they take care of the less fortunate and they love and respect their parents and treat people older than them with respect and dignity. They care about the world, the environment, politics, and history. They refuse to be categorized by the majority.
Back to parental advice. Parents please do not think that parenting is easy, it is very hard. Good parenting allows your kids to fail, it allows them to make mistakes and learn from them. Good parenting has consequences for bad behavior and rewards when you see your child shine and do something out of their comfort zone. This is what turns young people into productive adults that can leave their footprint on the planet for the better of everyone, including those with the entitlement mindset, who make no mistake are watching the latter with true curiosity.
...and now my rant is over...
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