Did you take time to watch
and observe the young people in your life? What characteristics were you able
to identify? Who has purchased the book
and started reading? It will definitely get you thinking and sharing the
concepts with others.
Change happens so
quickly. How many times have you experienced learning something new and then
realizing that you were already behind. If you own a cell phone, you know
exactly what I’m talking about.
The list below was what
was going on in 2010 when Elmore published this book. It’s quite apparent that
this list has already changed:
*music delivery went from
CDs to iTUnes and MP3s
*primary communication
went from cell phone calls to text messaging and now snapchat
*social networking went
from email to MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and now Instagram
*Entertainment preferences
went from watching TV to streaming videos on YouTube, Hulu and a lot of other
sites
*Personal data went from
blogs to Twitter etc
This week I want to focus
on more specific characteristics of the iY generation and what may be
contributing to the difference from those born in the 80’s. “The younger members of Generation Y (born in
1990 and beyond) look different than the older ones. Earlier the kids were
submissive, but today’s kids are more likely to be mavericks. They tend to be
lethargic rather than active, and self-absorbed rather than engaged.”
Why the shift? Elmore
suggests a few reasons which are dealt with in more depth in the book. One,
reason is the “years of affluence and social liberation in America during the
1990’s. The second is the damaging parenting styles that prevent kids from
preparing for the real world. All in the name of love and support but hasn’t
prepared kids to be adults. Three, the media and technology show an unrealistic
view of adult responsibility. Four, formal education prepares students for more
school versus the marketplace. Five, we have a culture that values convenience
more than commitment.”
You may or may not agree
with the above list or even why this generation is in trouble and how we can help.
That’s ok. My point is to at least bring up the fact that our iY generation is
having difficulty in today’s world. Putting your opinion aside for the moment,
I only ask you to remain open to new thoughts and maybe a few ah ha moments.
Being a Baby Boomer myself, we also had our struggles, high and low points, and
yes, our parents were worried about us as well. The difference? We did not have
the high level social media world to contend with. If we wanted to talk with
our friends, we called on the phone. Breaking up was face-to-face rather than
texting. The internet has changed all that.
“One reason students are
less empathetic may be that people are having fewer face-to-face interactions
communicating and instead use social media such as Facebook and Twitter.” There
wasn’t the cyber bullying where someone can remain anonymous. “Sexuality and
pornography has been taken to a new level. The 13 billion dollar porn industry
now has a new promoter: cell phones. Sexting, not texting, became the rage in
2008. 44% of high school boys have seen a porn photo of a classmate on their
cells.” Heads up to all parents! Not only is this a huge problem and far more
prevalent than most of us would like to think, but we also have young people
involved with things their minds are not able to handle.
According to Elmore, this
is like a Dr. Jekyll and Hyde population – a generation of paradox. He states a
few of these:
Paradox #: they are sheltered yet pressured. “They are both growing up faster (in some
senses), and growing up slower in others. Is it the high tech world that’s
speeding up life’s exposure actually slowing down their maturation?”
Paradox#2: They are self-absorbed yet generous. “Typically, iYers have been raised to be
consumers, and may have not matured to become contributors. By overemphasizing
self-esteem and underestimating qualities like unselfishness and
responsibility, adults have made it easy for these kids to be consumed with
self.”
Paradox#3: They are social yet isolated by
technology. “This very social
generation is in danger of becoming one of the most isolated generations
because so much of their relational contact comes via technology. Generation iY
loves using technology to communicate, but they also enjoy the isolation and
control that technology gives them.”
Paradox #4: They are ambitious yet anxious. iY’ers demonstrate far more ambition than
Generation X did at their age. Thousands of them have created their own
companies before they graduate from college eg. Mark Zuckerberg the founder of
Facebook. Why the confidence? Growing up they’ve been told that they’re winners
and told over and over again that they can do it. Their high level anxiety,
especially about their future, comes from the weight of the previous generation’s
expectations which can paralyze them, and they fear they may not measure up. Their
current world is full of support and encouragement, but that might not be true
for them as adults – their bosses will likely not be clapping for them every
week on the job.”
Paradox #5: They are adventuresome yet
protected. “All too often, in
fact, these kids have been rewarded just for coming up with ideas. Much of
their time is spent in a protected, failure-proof environment in which they’re
never given a chance to lose.” Elmore believes, and I would agree, that this
sense of entitlement is our fault. We have shielded them from disappointment
and didn’t say “no” about most things. Remember when we switched over to
participation ribbons, medals etc.? We were afraid to give out those first,
second, and third place designations for fear someone would feel bad.
Paradox #6: They are diverse yet harmonious. They’ve been taught to love each other and work
in teams. “Many wore uniforms in school, and they’ve been taught tolerance for
people who are different from them. They often date in groups and tend to be a
harmonious generation much more than those of us who are Baby Boomer and Gen X
parents. The problem is they tend to be connected mostly with each other. They
typically spend over 50% of their day with peers and only 15 percent with
adults, including parents. The result is many don’t learn how to interact with
folks from a different generation. How
can you preview and prepare for grown-up life when you keep modeling yourself
after other kids?”
Paradox #7: They are visionary yet vacillating. “This
generation is exposed to so many possibilities; they often have trouble
settling on one for very long. They tend to hop from vision to vision and may
never stay long enough to make a difference.”
Paradox 8: They are high achievement yet high
maintenance. Though this
is a confident, optimistic generation and as a whole are achievement-oriented,
when they don’t receive the extra attention, or things don’t come easily, they
give up. The exposure to large amounts of data, through technology, has sped up
their cognitive growth. “They know a lot early, therefore, they seem so
advanced. However, they are ill prepared for the real world of people, responsibility,
conflict resolution, listening, and waiting. It’s easy to mistake one
dimensional maturity for fully developed maturity.”
There is a great deal of
information this week, so I will end here and give you an opportunity to think,
rethink, ask yourself questions, and come to your own conclusion as to how you
can use this information. Some of you will be able to high five yourself as you
are already aware of many of these points and have been teaching your own
children, your students, your athletes, your employees etc. in a way to support
and mentor them to become responsible adults in the world today. Others will
realize this information is coming at a good time in your life and you are
capable of changing your actions with the young people you encounter.
Once again, as a
qualifier, my blogs are only a short synopsis of parts of the book
Generation iY Our Last Chance to Save Their Future by Tim Elmore. I
encourage you to purchase this book so you can get the information in its
entirety.
Where ever you are in
your world, I wish you a week of reflection on how you can continue to be a
positive influencer or how you can strengthen your position as a mentor, coach,
teacher, parent etc. of this iY generation. I always look forward to your
thoughts and comments.