The Millennial Myth Exposed

By Lauren Adams

Reporter

The idea that millennials are lazy, irresponsible, entitled, self serving, and disrespectful is a myth fostered by misunderstanding and the media.

Older generations seem to view millennials in an extremely negative light, frequently placing blame for varying social issues on their shoulders and predicting their failure in the future. In reality millennials are misunderstood by other age groups due to a distinct difference in values.

Where the baby boomers and generations X and Y see millennials as entitled, they are actually dreamers who demand respect and equality for each other. Never has America seen such an overall accepting attitude assume towards previously repressed and despised factions. Advocacy for minorities, justice for women, and equality for the LGBT community is being relentlessly demanded by today’s youth. This empathy for the impoverished and those facing injustice might be called “entitled”. Perhaps millennials have wrongly taken their desire of education for everyone and free healthcare to the extreme, but their motive is genuine compassion for each other — an admirable trait despite being a differing value from those of the past generations.

Furthermore, millennials are regularly claimed to be lazy, have no work ethic, and stupid. Oddly enough, quite the opposite is true. This generation is the most educated and achieving generation this nation has seen. The education system is easier than ever to access and youth are pushed to continue their studies as far as they can.