Getting Out Of The Way Of Millennial Growth Summary

Today’s Millennials: Facing a Tough Road

Tiandre Miller

DeVry University

With his article, "Getting Out of the Way of Millennials' Growth”, published in 2016, Tim Elmore declares a firm opinion on the millennial generation's attachment to technology, lack of guidance, and feelings of entitlement. The millennial generation are those born between 1982 and 2004. They are the first generation raised with the internet, have so much access to technology, and more and more, are reverting back to living at home with their parents. Elmore states, "Many have been sheltered and overprotected and are unready for life in the real world. They can be narcissistic, me-centered, impatient, demanding, and short-tempered, having a poor work ethic

What is happening to our youth of today? Has social media and Facebook become their demise? Although social media is the highlight in the life of teens today, there are multiple downfalls to the connection it gives them. This generation are the ones destined for a life of greatness by going beyond the grasp that social media is creating. With all the technology at the palms of their hands they somehow fail to see the potential they have. They are stuck in the social media grasp of Facebook “likes” for popularity and sexting the opposite sex. Donna Freitas states in “What I'm Reading: Sex, Teens, and Social Media” that “Social media is fostering a very unthinking and unfeeling culture; we are raising our kids to be performers.” (Belenky,2013, par 9).

“Technology has both accelerated and delayed their maturity. They know a lot very young but they are not ready for real people, waiting, responsibility, and the real world.” (Mays,2010, par7). This is the generation of immediate gratification. With so much access to information via the internet, and parents who cater to their child’s every request, it is no wonder this generation is unprepared for the “real”

Haim Ginott. He wrote a book entitled Parents and Teenagers in 1969. The effects of such parenting include lack of confidence, sense of entitlement, and undeveloped life skills. This lack of confidence is caused by the parents drive to want their child’s success, therefore doing everything for their child to ensure such success. "The main problem with helicopter parenting is that it backfires," Dr. Dunnewold says. "The underlying message [the parent's] overinvolvement sends to kids, however, is 'my parent doesn't trust me to do this on my own,' [and this leads] to a lack of confidence."(Bayless,2013,par8).

Today’s youth will never reach their full potential unless they are allowed to make mistakes, and use those as tools to learn from and grow from. When parents dictate their child’s every move, they are crippling them. They do them a disservice, by not teaching them conflict resolution skills, social skills, dealing with disappointment, and simple respect. Instead, they create spoiled, entitled, dependent children who lack the skills needed to be completely