The YouTube Generation
by Christine Mosley

Morley Safer called them "Millennials." Back in November 2007, the 60 Minutes' correspondent, reporting on this exceptional group of young people born between 1980 and 1995 in a 20 minute piece that got a lot of attention, maintained that this generation of kids are not only spoiled like no other previous generation, but are ill-prepared for the demands of the workplace. Kids who are now in their late teens and early 20s, he stated, were "narcissistic praise hounds" who "were raised by doting parents who told them they [were] special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They [were] laden with trophies just for participating, and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds."

And who's to blame? Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow thinks he knows who is: Mister Rogers. Mr. Zaslow contends that the "everyone is special" theme that so often permeated Fred Rogers's measured, gentle tone on the PBS show may have been well-intentioned, but was ultimately detrimental, because it never really explained to the kids why they were so "special". What had they done to deserve such praise? Mr. Zaslow's ideas, if controversial, have been echoed in various other media venues recently.

Given all the current interest in this subject, I decided to look into it myself. I didn't have to look very far. After all, I have two Millennials myself; one in college, one out of college. Like most parents, I am probably guilty of the same indulgences that social psychologists and other observers claim as the downfall of this most recent generation of young citizens. Nearly every account I've read about the Millennials warns of a mass collapse of the work force in the near future unless corporate America learns to make concessions to this generation of workers that has been coddled since day one.

Not to worry, though. If the bottom does fall out, these young adults can always come home to mom and dad. In fact they've also been dubbed the "boomerang" generation, since more than half of college seniors graduating today return home. Previous generations may have associated a certain amount of embarrassment with living at home in your mid-20s. Not so the Boomerang Millennials; for them it's a smart economic decision. Returning home so readily suggests that most of these kids had pretty happy childhoods.

"Who wouldn't be happy when you're growing up in a world where there's no failure?" claims Mary Crane, a consultant on office protocol. "You now have a generation coming into the workplace that thinks. . . they will automatically win, and they'll always be rewarded, even for just for showing up," she tells interviewer Morley Safer. Worse, she says, we expect them suddenly to perform professionally when we've given them little or no practical life training. Marian Salzman, a J. Walter Thompson ad executive who has been managing and training Millennials, says that managers today must be "half shrink and half diplomat... You have to speak to them a little bit like a therapist. You can't be harsh. You cannot tell them you're disappointed in them. You can't really ask them to live and breathe the company. Because they're living and breathing themselves and that keeps them very busy."

So what, if anything, is promoting this self-centered attitude? Kids are attending college in record numbers these days. From my own experience I'd say that college today is even cushier than the life many had at home, from cafeterias that look like fine dining restaurants to state-of-the-art gyms and theaters, to counseling services, clubs, support groups, and endless recreational and sports activities. One wonders how any studying gets done!

I've asked my own kids what they think about all this. They concede that they and their fellow Millennials may be a bit selfish, and probably spend too much time keeping connected with family and friends. But hey, what's wrong with that? Young people today consider interaction with one another a top priority, and they are amazingly adept at multi-tasking with their high-tech gadgets, whether they're walking across campus or strolling into their first job interview. Socializing for them may consume far more of their daily lives than socializing did a generation ago, but few apologize for it. A career? It will evolve over time. Who wants to be locked into a job that may ultimately leave them with no benefits? Too many have seen their parents left with nothing more than memories when their job ends up being outsourced overseas.

In the end, how different is this generation really from generations before? Many of us remember being told we were worthless hippies who'd amount to nothing if we didn't cut our hair and get a job. Every generation has somehow managed to adapt to our changing world; who's to say the Millennials won't? Despite media claims to the contrary, our young people may rise to the challenges of a 21st century global economy with ideas and talents we didn't know they possessed. Their connectedness to one another may even go a long way towards solving some of our world problems. More importantly for them, lines of race, culture and religion are more blurred than they were for us. The world demands it of them. Even the composition of the traditional family has taken on a new dimension, fueled by an ever-increasing divorce rate. These kids have adapted to all kinds of stepfamilies. Maybe that's one reason they see the world so differently than we did.

I can't help but think all this is a good thing. Given our challenges today, we're going to need all the out-of-the-box thinking we can get, and staying tuned in to one another is a great foundation to build upon. I do wonder whether those "narcissistic praise hounds" are up to the task, but from what I can see, their resourcefulness and ability to network internationally can only be an asset. They want to work together, and maybe the lessons learned from Fred Rogers have translated into a genuine interest in those around them. Doesn't problem solving begin by addressing the needs of others here and around the world?

As the Millennials move from home, to school, to work (and back home again), we should recognize their intelligence, technological skill, and devotion to family and friends, but we should also remember to tell them how proud we are of them. That may be the most significant tool we can give them to survive in the imperfect world we're leaving them.