Summary/Critique Essay
Brynlee Faulkner
English 101
How We Learn
November 21, 2017
Millennials…Lacking Slacking
Every aspect of a millennial’s life has changed from preceding generations; millennials grew up with technology at their fingertips. Because of this fact, older generations are quick to blame wrongdoings on younger generations, including an overall slacking society. However, Catherine Rampell, an economics editor for the New York Times, disputes Millennial laziness in her essay “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much.” Rampell correctly does not agree with the idea of millennial laziness and explains the younger generations are more involved in activities beyond academics; however, the article incorrectly believes that schooling is more relaxed nowadays and Millennials have low morals and work ethic.
Rampell’s essay addresses the stereotypical view of younger generations being lazy slackers. For example, she states, “Generation Y—or Millennials, the Facebook Generation, or whatever you want to call today’s cohort of young people—has been accused of being the laziest generation ever” (388). She expresses her opinion on the “kids these days” complex by explaining, “Even Aristotle and Plato were said to have expressed similar feelings about the youth of their times” (Rampell 389). She discredits the claim students are lazy because they study less and take part in more extracurricular activities, like community service; teenage participation in community service has almost doubled in less than 20 years. Rampell also believes that Millennials are as productive as older generations, but the younger generation’s productivity differs from the traditional productivity. Rampell says past generations scoff at video games for making younger generations lazy but explains that video games boost productivity. Summarily, Rampell believes millennials do not characterize the lazy connotation older generations give them.
Rampell states that authors, like those of The Dumbest Generation and Generation Me, disapprove of Millennials’ expected attitudes. Specifically, Rampell says these authors believe that “They [Millennials] feel entitled…and impatient” (388). However, instant gratification affects all areas of society and all generations. Older generations blame younger generations for being impatient, but those generations (mostly Generation X) are the main culprits of applying the innate desire to “want it now” to every aspect of life. For instance, my mother buys home goods off of Amazon, a corporation created by a middle-aged male, almost weekly and spends $80 per year to get free two-day Amazon Prime shipping. Millennials grew up watching their parents develop a society of immediate gratification, and yet older generations judge them for a concept created by Generation X. In short, instant gratification not only affect Generation Y but preceding generations also.
Although Rampell disagrees with the notion that millennials are impatient, she mentions that older generations believe that school is easier than it used to be while society demands more involvement from students. Particularly, she writes, “...[M]any critics have noted [that] it’s also easier to get A’s…College students also spend fewer hours studying each week than did their counterparts in 1961…[but] that doesn’t mean all this leftover time is spent on PlayStation 3’s” (qtd. 389). Rampell explains that there is an increasing number of full-time college students who also work full-time jobs; furthermore, she reveals that the number of teenagers involved in community service has nearly doubled from 1989 to 2006 (389). While I agree students are more involved with activities beyond academics, I do not believe that school has gotten easier. Modern schools challenge students equally—if not harder— than schools in the past because many modern schools expect more commitments from students. Schools highly suggest students take as many dual-credit classes as possible while also juggling at least one sport and as many extracurricular activities as possible. Also, the average GPA may have increased by six-tenths of a point since the 1950s, but that is because millennials use their study time more advantageously than older generations because they have less time to spend on academics.
Not only is our society dominated by the belief that schooling has become easier but also by the concept that Millennials lack wholesomeness and productiveness. On the matter, Rampell writes, “And three in four Americans believe that today’s youth are less virtuous and industrious than their elders…In a sign of humility,…two-thirds of Millennials said older generation were superior to the younger generation when it came to moral values and work ethic” (388). However, compared to younger generation, older generations do not have a higher morality; they are better at hiding the truth. Although now, older generations will quickly judge a younger generations for participating in similar activities. For example, my grandmother became pregnant with my mother before she and my grandfather were married, and being from a staunch Catholic family, my great-grandmother would tell her church friends that “It was a miracle the baby survived because it was so premature.” My great-grandmother lied saying that my mother was a premature baby rather than admitting the truth that my grandmother became pregnant before she married my grandfather. She was afraid of her church friends finding out and judging my her and my grandmother. Premarital sex happens now just as it did when my grandmother was a teenager; likewise, older generations remain judgemental of the younger generations when those older generations engaged in the same immoral activities.
Unless Americans desire to live in an unchanging, archaic country, then technology and our society must advance. Technology has permeated into daily aspects of Americans’ lives. These older generations dislike the change because it differs from their upbringing, and the changes scare them. These past generations discourage improvement by labeling it as “lazy”; nonetheless, Catherine Rampell disputes this laziness concept in “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much.” Although Rampell does not agree with millennial laziness or an increase of activities, she believes that school has become easier for them and they have fewer values; at the same time, she understands that millennial laziness is not laziness at all but innovation.
Works Cited
Rampell, Catherine. “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much.” Acting out Culture, 3rd ed., Bedford St. Martin's, 2015, pp. 388-90.
English 101
How We Learn
November 21, 2017
Millennials…Lacking Slacking
Every aspect of a millennial’s life has changed from preceding generations; millennials grew up with technology at their fingertips. Because of this fact, older generations are quick to blame wrongdoings on younger generations, including an overall slacking society. However, Catherine Rampell, an economics editor for the New York Times, disputes Millennial laziness in her essay “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much.” Rampell correctly does not agree with the idea of millennial laziness and explains the younger generations are more involved in activities beyond academics; however, the article incorrectly believes that schooling is more relaxed nowadays and Millennials have low morals and work ethic.
Rampell’s essay addresses the stereotypical view of younger generations being lazy slackers. For example, she states, “Generation Y—or Millennials, the Facebook Generation, or whatever you want to call today’s cohort of young people—has been accused of being the laziest generation ever” (388). She expresses her opinion on the “kids these days” complex by explaining, “Even Aristotle and Plato were said to have expressed similar feelings about the youth of their times” (Rampell 389). She discredits the claim students are lazy because they study less and take part in more extracurricular activities, like community service; teenage participation in community service has almost doubled in less than 20 years. Rampell also believes that Millennials are as productive as older generations, but the younger generation’s productivity differs from the traditional productivity. Rampell says past generations scoff at video games for making younger generations lazy but explains that video games boost productivity. Summarily, Rampell believes millennials do not characterize the lazy connotation older generations give them.
Rampell states that authors, like those of The Dumbest Generation and Generation Me, disapprove of Millennials’ expected attitudes. Specifically, Rampell says these authors believe that “They [Millennials] feel entitled…and impatient” (388). However, instant gratification affects all areas of society and all generations. Older generations blame younger generations for being impatient, but those generations (mostly Generation X) are the main culprits of applying the innate desire to “want it now” to every aspect of life. For instance, my mother buys home goods off of Amazon, a corporation created by a middle-aged male, almost weekly and spends $80 per year to get free two-day Amazon Prime shipping. Millennials grew up watching their parents develop a society of immediate gratification, and yet older generations judge them for a concept created by Generation X. In short, instant gratification not only affect Generation Y but preceding generations also.
Although Rampell disagrees with the notion that millennials are impatient, she mentions that older generations believe that school is easier than it used to be while society demands more involvement from students. Particularly, she writes, “...[M]any critics have noted [that] it’s also easier to get A’s…College students also spend fewer hours studying each week than did their counterparts in 1961…[but] that doesn’t mean all this leftover time is spent on PlayStation 3’s” (qtd. 389). Rampell explains that there is an increasing number of full-time college students who also work full-time jobs; furthermore, she reveals that the number of teenagers involved in community service has nearly doubled from 1989 to 2006 (389). While I agree students are more involved with activities beyond academics, I do not believe that school has gotten easier. Modern schools challenge students equally—if not harder— than schools in the past because many modern schools expect more commitments from students. Schools highly suggest students take as many dual-credit classes as possible while also juggling at least one sport and as many extracurricular activities as possible. Also, the average GPA may have increased by six-tenths of a point since the 1950s, but that is because millennials use their study time more advantageously than older generations because they have less time to spend on academics.
Not only is our society dominated by the belief that schooling has become easier but also by the concept that Millennials lack wholesomeness and productiveness. On the matter, Rampell writes, “And three in four Americans believe that today’s youth are less virtuous and industrious than their elders…In a sign of humility,…two-thirds of Millennials said older generation were superior to the younger generation when it came to moral values and work ethic” (388). However, compared to younger generation, older generations do not have a higher morality; they are better at hiding the truth. Although now, older generations will quickly judge a younger generations for participating in similar activities. For example, my grandmother became pregnant with my mother before she and my grandfather were married, and being from a staunch Catholic family, my great-grandmother would tell her church friends that “It was a miracle the baby survived because it was so premature.” My great-grandmother lied saying that my mother was a premature baby rather than admitting the truth that my grandmother became pregnant before she married my grandfather. She was afraid of her church friends finding out and judging my her and my grandmother. Premarital sex happens now just as it did when my grandmother was a teenager; likewise, older generations remain judgemental of the younger generations when those older generations engaged in the same immoral activities.
Unless Americans desire to live in an unchanging, archaic country, then technology and our society must advance. Technology has permeated into daily aspects of Americans’ lives. These older generations dislike the change because it differs from their upbringing, and the changes scare them. These past generations discourage improvement by labeling it as “lazy”; nonetheless, Catherine Rampell disputes this laziness concept in “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much.” Although Rampell does not agree with millennial laziness or an increase of activities, she believes that school has become easier for them and they have fewer values; at the same time, she understands that millennial laziness is not laziness at all but innovation.
Works Cited
Rampell, Catherine. “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much.” Acting out Culture, 3rd ed., Bedford St. Martin's, 2015, pp. 388-90.