“College Kids Aren’t Supercilious Snowflakes” written by Barry Glassner and Morton Schapiro clearly states that college students are not like the stereotypes. Glassner and Schapiro say that from their perspectives as educators, college students are “caring, complex, committed, and clear-eyed”. Millennials get a bad rap from older generations. Whenever most people hear the word millennial they think of rude, spoiled, and ignorant. Millennials are more than what other people classify them as. In my opinion, millennials are hardworking, and open minded.
Throughout most of my life I have heard that my generation is the worst generation. Multiple older people have said that we are rude, disrespectful, and that we weren’t disciplined enough as kids. This passage clearly shows that we aren’t any of those things. Maybe some of us may not hold open the door every once and a while, but that does not mean we are disrespectful or rude. Even though I am a millennial, I was taught my manners and I am always polite. Since my mom let me be very independent at a young age, I was able to form my own opinions. I’m able to express myself very clearly at any place or time. I don’t conform to what anyone thinks I should or shouldn’t do with my life. I make all of my major life choices. I was raised to always be independent.
According to Michael Hobbes, ‘There’s really very little evidence that millennials are any more spoiled or any more entitled than any generation of young people that came before,’ he says, ‘But there is a mountain of evidence that things are objectively harder for us.'(Garcia-Navarro) As millennials, we didn’t grow up with four cent candies, and we can’t buy a house on minimum wage like older generations could. Older generations always try to compare themselves to the younger generation without taking the economy into account. Our candy now costs $1.00, that’s a 0.96 cent increase on candy alone. According to in2013dollars.com, $100 in 1946 is equal to $1,257.03 in 2017. Prices in 2017 are 1,157.03% higher than 1946. Because of this, we now forced into college to obtain a higher education to maintain a comfortable lifestyle that older generations could have by working a minimum wage job.
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Millennials feel like they have more responsibilities than older generations. Not only do they have massive student loan debts, they also must find a well-paying job after graduating college in a market that does not want fresh college students as employees. “Many employers believe recent college graduates are underdeveloped in key workplace skills like interpersonal communication, critical thinking, and organization.” (Alton). Because of this, many millennials struggle entering the workplace and end up having to work multiple minimum wage jobs or residing with their parents to make ends meet. Millennials understand the struggle, and respect everyone’s efforts to better themselves.
In the passage, Glassner and Schapiro say “They have trouble understanding prior generations’ obsession with differences in sexuality and sexual expression, in race and ethnicity, and in gender… They reject labels and dichotomies and how they’re used to over simplify and do harm.” (Glassner and Schapiro). Because my mom never restricted me through tv, or books I acquired knowledge on things that ended up making me a very mature six-year-old. Since we are raised differently, naturally we will have different viewpoints.
My mom taught me that love can come in more than just one way, shape, or form. She also told it to me straight and didn’t sugar coat anything. Every Sunday, until I was 6 years old was spent in church. The way I was taught to interpret the bible and the way my mom raised me contradicted, so I decided to keep an open mind while still holding on to my faith. Millennials support equality on all fronts. This is showed by continuous support of movements that promote equality among everyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation, and religious views.
“Millennials are definitely among, if not the most tolerant generation the world has seen so far (though yes, we constantly have to unlearn and fight some old mindsets that we ourselves have). Even in cases where millennials are not so open-minded, it’s rare to see them ostracizing and even brutalizing those who deviate from the norm.” (Frank). As millennials, we have the mindset of ‘mind your own business’. We understand that other people’s lives are their own and that their life choices have nothing to do with us. Even though millennials are very open minded, we do still have our faults.
When someone doesn’t agree with our way of thinking we do not take it well. I believe, that this is why older generations call us disrespectful. When we see that someone is being mean or closed-minded, we feel the need to step in and change their views, but most older people feel that we shouldn’t say anything and keep to ourselves. Instead of conforming to previous generations, we say what is on our minds. While we can be very brash with our words, we are naturally caring people.
Glassner and Schapiro point out that “Even the worst of today’s college students tend to be more caring and respectful of others than were their egotistical counterparts of an earlier generation, who put advancing their careers above everything.” One lesson that my mom taught me was to value everything I have. The way she taught me to value things was to care for it. I value my grandmother, so every time I go to see her she doesn’t lift a finger to do anything. Millennials aren’t as spoiled as people think they are. “Not only do we want independence by going into business for ourselves, but we think independently despite the system we’re operating within” (Weaver). As Millennials we strive to be the manager and not just an employee. By saying millennials are spoiled, you are saying that they are dependent. Millennials are not dependent, they are different.
Just because millennials don’t fit into the box that was mapped out by older generations doesn’t make us rude, disrespectful, spoilt, or ignorant. Millennials represent a new way of living as open-minded individuals who does not want to settle for less. We are forced to go farther distances to achieve the same amount that older generations have. Even though older people have shaped us into who we are, they shame us for how we act. We are not “supercilious snowflakes”, we are different and creative and imperfect. Just the way we should be.
Works Cited
- Garcia-Navarro, Lulu. “’Entitled’ Millennials Have It Harder Than The Previous Generation, Writer Says.” NPR, NPR, 7 Jan. 2018, www.npr.org/2018/01/07/576301190/millennials-and-the-economy.
- Ruggeri, Amanda. “Capital – What Everyone Gets Wrong about ‘Millennial Snowflakes’.” BBC News, BBC, 3 Oct. 2017, www.bbc.com/capital/story/20171003-millennials-are-the-generation-thats-fun-to-hatehttp://www.in2013dollars.com/1946-dollars-in-2017
- Alton, Larry. “Millennials Are Struggling To Get Jobs – Here’s Why, And What To Do About It.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 22 Dec. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/larryalton/2016/12/22/millennials-are-struggling-to-get-jobs-heres-why-and-what-to-do-about-it/#73dc21c54bb0.
- Frank, Erma. Are Millennials More Open-Minded than Older Generations? If so, Why? Quroa, 25 Aug. 2017, www.quora.com/Are-millennials-more-open-minded-than-older-generations-If-so-why.
- Glassner, Barry, and Morton Schapiro. “College Kids Aren’t ‘Supercilious Snowflakes’.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2018, www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-glassner-schapiro-snowflakes-20180820-story.html.
