"The Millennials, a generation born digital, will have a much stronger impact on social behavior than we currently assume. Global climate change and resource security will influence our lives in substantial ways." Klaus Schwab
Millennials are often compared with the older generations and blamed for being self-regarding and coddled. As it seems, the youth of today have very few coping skills to get them through the reality of life. Even though they are far more well equipped, with full access to high technology as compared to generation X. But, honestly speaking, who knows how they will turn out to be as adults?
There is definitely a decline in moral direction and spiritual values among youth today and this part of upbringing is what most parents fail to embed in their children. As a result, a vague direction for right and wrong is developed. The focus towards materialistic prosperity is so strong that the parents often forget what kind of legacy they will be leaving behind after them. That's how the culture influences us - not just the parents' fault.
Parents today may feel pretty proud about how they've contributed in a materialistic way to the kid's rearing and paved an easy street for them. But somewhere between all this, there is a guilt which makes them doubt their own kids as less capable, responsible and confident adults. Reason and logic are the best gifts we can bestow upon our children. We have to lift them up as parents, teachers, mentors, aunts, uncles, grandparents, even brothers and sisters. We all have the power to inspire kids and make them believe they can achieve their goals. If they can think for themselves, they will know when not to do something and it will save them a world of heartache. Because you never value something you were given, as much as something you worked for.
Speaking of my childhood, I remember how my siblings and I were raised with the word 'no'. If we made mistakes or failed to do a task correctly, we were expected to do it right by ourselves. Now, I'm not saying we were left on our own unattended or neglected as children, no. What I'm saying is that we were responsible and fully accountable for our actions. We had to deal with disappointments and that is how we learnt how to achieve numerous things on our own.
There were lessons in our experiences, even though we didn't realize it at the time. Every little incident, from group fights and clashing with teachers in high school and university, to dealing with organizational politics was an opportunity for us to learn how and when to negotiate and compromise. It also taught us that the world isn't fair. Sometimes people just don't like you, and sometimes you'll work as hard as ever but still get unnoticed and unappreciated. That's how life is and will be for every generation.
However, today, there's an entire generation that's growing up with a feeling of lesser self-worth and self-esteem. Why? Because when they came up with problems as young children, they were given latest gadgets by their parents to'"solve' the problems instead of lifelong advice by their elders. Now, when they can't find the solution to 'real life' problems in their gadgets, they obviously go into depression. According to a new survey conducted by The American Psychological Association and Harris Interactive, Millennials are more stressed than any other current living generation. Overall, millennials - defined by coordinators as anyone between the ages of 18 to 33 - reported that they had a stress level of 5.4 out of 10. The researchers generally considered a stress level of 3.6 to be healthy.
A century's worth of complaints is more than enough evidence that we're doing something wrong. It's time to revamp the parenting strategies folks!