I am one of the generation called “Millennials.” Wow. I don’t want to claim it. I only started hashtagging in the last year and I’ve been doing “selfies” since I figured out how to use a camera back in the 90s; cell phones weren’t really an option back then. Oh, and I still prefer to write out the words I mean to text.
But, if I had to categorize myself in this generation of millennials, I would call myself an “old school” millennial. Yes, I still prefer a real book in my hand, proper speech and spelling, and I agree with parents who spank their children – not beat their children.
I grew up in a part of this generation who still had respect for the teacher, even though in Tennessee, that still isn’t much. We got to learn about life and the subjects we took. The test wasn’t the only thing that mattered when I was in grade school.
Going into college, social media was the big thing. MySpace came first and then Facebook, Twitter and so on.
I love Facebook and I am starting to get into Twitter, but I still prefer face-to-face conversations. Texting in code is something I have never gotten used to. I think I go as far as saying “LOL.”
As I look around me, I see so many problems. Kids born in the mid to late 90s have attitudes. Boy, do they have attitudes that could curdle milk and curl your toes. They throw tantrums and manipulate adults and generally get on my nerves.
Because parents are now afraid to spank or punish their children, we have a very spoiled second half of this generation. They have some how been given power over the adults. How is that even legal? A child who can’t even vote is going to tell an adult how they should be treated. What they want is what they can’t live without and the adults must get it for them.
I, for one, would have received a whipping for throwing tantrums or telling my parents “no.” Thankfully, I learned from the mistakes of my brothers, so I knew how not to behave, though my brothers still like to call me spoiled.
The definition of spoiled, though, has changed to mean a little tyrant. The latter portion of this generation could get away with robbery and some adult out there would probably say it is ok, just pat them on the hand and give them a warning.
I have to ask the question “what happened to respect your elders?” What happened to respecting those in authority over you and keeping your mouth shut? You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit?
I know you know what I am talking about. You’ve heard the little brat in Wal-Mart, Kroger, and K-Mart who is screaming and yelling, kicking and biting, and generally alerting the whole store to the fact that he or she isn’t getting his or her way. Don’t try to tell me that if you had the opportunity to spank that child, you wouldn’t jump at the chance just to gain some peace and quiet.
Getting off that soapbox, and probably onto another, social media has become the way we can keep up with the people from high school, college or work, and family. We can post all the “selfies” we want or pictures of our families. I prefer to see the pictures of people’s families, because, to me, a happy, growing family is beautiful.
“Selfies” are probably the funniest thing next to hashtagging. They’re probably also the saddest thing. The worst kind of “selfie” is the one that goes down a girl’s shirt, revealing all that her momma gave her. Or how about the shirtless teenage guy in the mirror? Yeah, that is classy all right.
Hashtagging is probably the oddest thing. We #this and #that. People don’t seem to post anything anymore without some kind of hashtag. I get the reasoning behind it, but it still looks funny.
Social media campaigns can’t seem to work without a hashtag. This seems to be the only way they can do any kind of calculations on their impact.
I guess the worst part of social media is the bullying. Not only do the teenagers of my generation have to deal with bullies at school, but now they have to deal with it on Facebook or Twitter. I already wrote an article on bullying, but cyberbullying seems to be worse on them. But it is no wonder; we have set that generation loose to do whatever comes to its mind.
I am trying to say there is definitely a division in this generation. I come from the end of the 80s and that’s where I’ll stay.
