I was talking with my mother a few weeks back and we got talking about ‘the generations.’ She was trying to work out what ‘generation’ she was (her and my father were both the ‘Silent Generation’: 1925-1945) whilst I was pondering all the criticism that Generation Y is getting. Why is ‘Y’ so bad?
I’m Generation X. For some reason, we seem to have inherited the same understanding of respect, manners, work ethic as the generation before us. The problem with Gen Y is that they simply don’t, or at least very few do. We blame Gen Y and hurl insults upon them, roll our eyes heavenward and wonder what is going to happen to the world as we know it. My argument in all this is not to blame Gen Y, but blame Gen X. Weren’t we the ones who raised them, taught them, educated them? If anything, we have screwed things up.
My parents were traditional parents, but not ridiculously so. They came from an era where children should be seen and not heard. They weren’t having any of that. But they did teach us respect and manners; the old ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’ sort of thing. One of my most vivid memories was being told that a male should stand when an elderly person or a woman enters a room. I used to watch chat shows and see the male guests follow that etiquette. Mum and Dad must have been right, I thought. It is a frightfully old fashioned custom, but it said to me that respect and deference are important.
But if I am not seeing such examples of respect and manners now, why has my generation stopped teaching the next generation such things? Do we resent how we were brought up and refuse to teach our children such ‘antiquated’ ideals? Are we just too lazy to teach our children anything? Or are we just so desperate to mark our own parental path that we disregard anything before us and ‘trailblaze’? Whatever it is we are doing, we aren’t doing a very good job of it.
Each older generation criticises the generation that comes after it. That has always been the case. The Mums and Dads of the 1940′s thought their children were hooligans when they started doing those hip swinging dances, listened to that raunchy Elvis Presley and wore leather jackets while riding motorbikes. But not only do Gen Y tend to disregard the basics of how to get by in society, there is an arrogance that says that they will sail into the future better than anybody else. The problem is, the very same skills they are ignoring are the same skills they need to get by in society, the workplace and as a parent.
I again make myself clear. This is not Gen Y’s fault. This is Gen X’s. We have failed as parents. Not all of us, but a hell of a lot of us. Generations have somehow refined the previous generation in regard to discipline, and how to relate and work with others. In other words, we have rounded off the extreme edge and taken from it what is important. Unfortunately, my generation has looked at how they were brought up and thrown ALL of it away and tried to create their own rules. It’s a brave experiment, but as we can see, an experiment that has failed miserably.
Will Gen Y realise they don’t have the proper building blocks for the future and revisit some of the basic core attitudes (minus the extremes)? Or will they travel on, botch things up, not care and continue like that until society becomes a sort of disorganised sociological mess? Not all Gen Y’s suffer from a lack of the basics. Hopefully there are enough Gen X parents who have produced enough Gen Y kids to counteract their less than competent cohorts. If not, the future looks a little bleak.
There is an argument that says Gen Y are ‘doing it their way’, harking back to that pioneering spirit that we all had as young people. Charles Darwin said, ‘It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change’. This argument could swing either way. It could imply that Gen Y will survive, as they are adapting to what is happening all around them, especially in regard to technology. But Gen Y generally do not adapt to any other way apart from their way. That could be a problem. Being flexible in the workplace lends itself to adaptability. Gen Y tend to lack flexibility and expect the previous generations to adapt to them.
That ‘world revolves around me’ attitude might see them struggling to survive.
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October 12, 2011
Gen Y, what’s gone wrong?
Posted by damob under Social commentaryLeave a Comment
I was talking with my mother a few weeks back and we got talking about ‘the generations.’ She was trying to work out what ‘generation’ she was (her and my father were both the ‘Silent Generation’: 1925-1945) whilst I was pondering all the criticism that Generation Y is getting. Why is ‘Y’ so bad?
I’m Generation X. For some reason, we seem to have inherited the same understanding of respect, manners, work ethic as the generation before us. The problem with Gen Y is that they simply don’t, or at least very few do. We blame Gen Y and hurl insults upon them, roll our eyes heavenward and wonder what is going to happen to the world as we know it. My argument in all this is not to blame Gen Y, but blame Gen X. Weren’t we the ones who raised them, taught them, educated them? If anything, we have screwed things up.
My parents were traditional parents, but not ridiculously so. They came from an era where children should be seen and not heard. They weren’t having any of that. But they did teach us respect and manners; the old ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’ sort of thing. One of my most vivid memories was being told that a male should stand when an elderly person or a woman enters a room. I used to watch chat shows and see the male guests follow that etiquette. Mum and Dad must have been right, I thought. It is a frightfully old fashioned custom, but it said to me that respect and deference are important.
But if I am not seeing such examples of respect and manners now, why has my generation stopped teaching the next generation such things? Do we resent how we were brought up and refuse to teach our children such ‘antiquated’ ideals? Are we just too lazy to teach our children anything? Or are we just so desperate to mark our own parental path that we disregard anything before us and ‘trailblaze’? Whatever it is we are doing, we aren’t doing a very good job of it.
Each older generation criticises the generation that comes after it. That has always been the case. The Mums and Dads of the 1940′s thought their children were hooligans when they started doing those hip swinging dances, listened to that raunchy Elvis Presley and wore leather jackets while riding motorbikes. But not only do Gen Y tend to disregard the basics of how to get by in society, there is an arrogance that says that they will sail into the future better than anybody else. The problem is, the very same skills they are ignoring are the same skills they need to get by in society, the workplace and as a parent.
I again make myself clear. This is not Gen Y’s fault. This is Gen X’s. We have failed as parents. Not all of us, but a hell of a lot of us. Generations have somehow refined the previous generation in regard to discipline, and how to relate and work with others. In other words, we have rounded off the extreme edge and taken from it what is important. Unfortunately, my generation has looked at how they were brought up and thrown ALL of it away and tried to create their own rules. It’s a brave experiment, but as we can see, an experiment that has failed miserably.
Will Gen Y realise they don’t have the proper building blocks for the future and revisit some of the basic core attitudes (minus the extremes)? Or will they travel on, botch things up, not care and continue like that until society becomes a sort of disorganised sociological mess? Not all Gen Y’s suffer from a lack of the basics. Hopefully there are enough Gen X parents who have produced enough Gen Y kids to counteract their less than competent cohorts. If not, the future looks a little bleak.
There is an argument that says Gen Y are ‘doing it their way’, harking back to that pioneering spirit that we all had as young people. Charles Darwin said, ‘It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change’. This argument could swing either way. It could imply that Gen Y will survive, as they are adapting to what is happening all around them, especially in regard to technology. But Gen Y generally do not adapt to any other way apart from their way. That could be a problem. Being flexible in the workplace lends itself to adaptability. Gen Y tend to lack flexibility and expect the previous generations to adapt to them.
That ‘world revolves around me’ attitude might see them struggling to survive.
Enjoy your day
Like this: