In all truth about myself, I could use someone like that. I’m a “Millennial” (born 1983), and a lot of what that page says makes sense, and it’s things I’ve noticed about my own life too. In high school (or early college) I realized I’d more or less been kept in a very protective box by my grandmother and my mom. My mom wasn’t exactly as overprotective as that page says some could have been, but protective nonetheless.
Though my issue is that my self-esteem issues went south at about 12 years of age and still haven’t recovered, so the whole “you’re so special!” message kind of fell on deaf ears after that point.
I’ve done a lot of growing up in the fields they say are difficult for our generation, but at the same time, it’s still kind of a learning experience. The whole “you don’t get paid to show up, you get paid to work and earn raises by doing good work” thing settled in when I started in the business I’m working in now. What’s kind of cool though is that my manager and many co-workers I work with are in my age group, and through those who are my age-ish but learned these lessons, I was able to learn a lot from them too.
My managers always made sure I was praised for doing well though, while also teaching me about how to take more responsibility for myself, which all in all worked extremely well for me. They knew I’d take responsibility, but also needed a little extra pep-talking and guidance. They keep offering to make me a manager as soon as I start working full-time, which won’t be for a while, but the offer’s still there.
I’m turning out much better so far, and yes I’m pretty sure the real world is going to kick my ass in the near future, but I’m willing to learn and live and make it. Plus I have a best friend who fell through the “Millennial” crack as it were, and she’s the most hard-working person I know, I look up to her. She’s helped me a lot in terms of learning what I need to know for life, and I know she will help me out in understanding things I need to know if I don’t understand them.
She’s been an awesome big sister to me.
When I was a kid, we had reality therapists.
The were called Police. And Bill Collectors.
I actually found that article mildly offensive. I was born in 1983. I am not remotely like the overprotected, irresponsible stereotypes the article describes. Neither are any of my friends. I’m sure some folks in my generation do have entitlement issues, but it shouldn’t be used to discriminate against me.
I can no longer access the article without registering, so sorry I’m not providing specifics…
I wish I could say that was bullshit, but I’ve met too many people my age that fit that stereotype.
sigh
I’m not one of them, but my sister is (but not from being coddled. She’s just a screw-up)
That’s blatant age-ism and utterly false. In “reality”, you can’t stereotype an entire generation, especially in a cross-cultural country (whoa alliteration) like the US. And the guy who refuses to hire anyone under 27 needs a few good knocks to the head. Chances are, if you have to fire EVERY SINGLE young worker in your organization, there’s a problem with you, not them.
I don’t know how old you are, but in my neighborhood we called them Mom and Dad, and Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Schwartze, and Mrs. Tauber and a whole lot more. Everybody’s mother brought the reality. Dads only preyed on their own, unless there was a window broken or something.
It’s about time. Reality is seriously messed up. It could certainly use some good therapy.
Working at a college I can tell you this is not ageism - it’s a bona fide trend. From the dad calling to protest his princess’s A- to the mom needing to schedule an urgent and highly confidential meeting about her son’s disability, making it seem as if he’s got no legs or a twin growing out of his drawing hand when all it was is a mild ADHD, I see it all the time. My favorite was this girl who hated her freshman drawing teacher because he ripped her project to demonstrate she hadn’t achieved the goal of abstract drawing. This was his teaching method and he ripped and cut work all the time, sometimes attaching it to other students’ work. But the girl was thinking this was a masterpiece and the mom called to complain because he daughter didn’t want to draw abstractly since she only liked to draw realistic jungle animals. Yes, this millienial mom was willing to pay thirty thousand dollars a year so her daughter could learn to do what she already knew how to do.
Okay, but how many kids weren’t like this? I imagine if these people are sticking out in your head, that means there weren’t hordes of entitled students running around being pains in the asses (though these anecdotes are really more telling of the parents’ problems than the young adults’.) I’m sure there were masses of students at the college whose existence barely registered, because they weren’t entitled jackasses and instead quietly doing what was expected of them. I’m not convinced widespread age discrimination is justified based on what seems to be a vocal, irritating, statistical minority of people.
I see a LOT of mothers who are parenting in that way, over-managing their kids’ lives and preventing all opportunities for pain and disappointment.
I can think of two reasons for this syndrome that weren’t mentioned in the article.
One is that we’re a generation that’s familiar with therapy. A couple of decades ago, being in therapy was exceptionally rare (Dr. Sidney on MAS*H was controversial and edgy). Nowadays we all know that our miserable adult lives are “All my mother’s fault”. Well, modern mothers don’t want to BE that mom, the one we ourselves grew up resenting and later blaming. So we bend over backwards to do an excellent job of mothering. Damn straight.
But what is “excellent” though?
Who knows?
Which leads into the second part, mothers as former employees. We’re accustomed to working, to measurable goals and controlled outcomes (and paychecks, alas). We don’t think we’re doing a good job (never mind an excellent one) unless we see tangible proof.
Well, there isn’t any. Not on a daily basis, anyway.
So since we can’t achieve positives, we seek to eliminate negatives. THAT, at least, seems proof of a job well done.
Plus it keeps CPS at bay - heaven help a parent who loses it on their child in public. Not that public spankings (or any spankings) are a GOOD thing…just that we’re supposed to be a model of Happy Familial Existence whenever we’re out in public. Nobody wants to hear your kid whining at Wal*Mart, even though that MIGHT mean you’re doing a GREAT job of letting them suffer temporary unhappiness (i.e., building character).
And, hey, if mom and dad are both working, they don’t want to spend their time with the kiddies dealing with UNHAPPY children, either. Oh, hell no. It sucks. All parents (particularly tired ones) want happy, engaged, easily managed children. Not frustrated - and frustrating - little people.
Another factor is that parents today have a vast ability to provide soft nests for our young, moreso than other generations could. Toys, distractions, food and rewards are easily available for most middle-class families.
My grandfather was an elevator operator and my father had few toys; my mom’s heart’s desire was a record player. When I was a kid most families didn’t own two cars and most kids didn’t have their own bedrooms.
My kids already have their own CD players.
For better or worse, they also have a mother with many deficiencies and selfish qualities. Aye, I’m a lot happier about that now than I was an hour ago. 
I guess I fall into this category, barely, although I always felt like I was more a part of Generation X. I was sheltered through my teenage years but I was also battling some health issues and that took priority over everything else except schoolwork. It’s only in the last year that I’ve felt like a fully capable adult.
However, I don’t expect anyone to hold my hand and fix my problems for me. My parents raised me to take responsibility for myself and expect me to do so. And I do, barring a few missteps along the way. But hey, that’s why pencils have erasers.
However, I have a friend in her mid-20s who is almost a photograph of the type of person that article talks about. She got laid off from her first real job after 5 months due to not taking her work seriously. Whenever she’s in financial trouble, she calls her parents and expects them to fix it for her. It’s more a matter of personal responsibility than generation, I feel. Most of my friends of the same age don’t act like her. Then again, most of my friends are in grad school, so we’re a bit different.