There is definitely a stereotype surrounding the quality of young people nowadays. Millennials are commonly looked down upon by older generations who make comments such as “When I was younger, I would have never behaved that way”, “We were never this entitled when we were that age”, or “We actually had to work for what we wanted”.
And who knows if these statements commonly heard between older friends are actually how they truly feel or if they are just saying those statements because they have spent countless hours observing the behavioral patterns of the majority of millennials to exist.
Another thing that the older generations tend to do is act completely floored when they encounter a “nice, young person” because, well, “there aren’t many of those nowadays”. Older generations seem to generalize their perceptions of those who are younger solely by how they see them being portrayed on the media. They see these young rappers, advertisements of cell phones, and more openness to discuss taboo subjects as generalizations of how every millennial lives their life.
Older generations also have this idea that younger folk’s sole lives reside on social media platforms and technology. And while a ton of millennials are constantly using their technology, they are also extremely more connected to the world around them, giving them access to bounds of knowledge and news that the older generations can only access through their T.V screens when they decide to turn them on.
With this being said, there are definitely qualities in both the younger and the older generations that would be considered as better or worse. However, it is generally unfair to judge a whole generation based on stereotypes of bad behavior, entitlement, and a sense of lacking work ethic.
Both the older generations and millennials have contributed immensely to the positive factors of society and because of that, judgement of a person’s character should not be gauged on negative stereotypes.