Millennial Generation aka Digital Natives

The articles Millennials rising: The next great generation by Howe & Strauss and Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky were very interesting and provided great insight about the generation of students we're dealing with today. Reading these articles helped me to see this new generation in a different light, in a better light.

Although these articles were very interesting and discuss the group of learners we are teaching today, I was not able to relate the articles to the group of students I am currently teaching. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, I am currently teaching at a charter school where the majority of the students come from low income, single parent homes. Yes, my students are raised watching lots of television, listening to inappropriate music and playing video games. However, due to their economic background, I feel that they are lacking the knowledge of many of the technologies that exist today. I am even finding it difficult to have the students complete homework assignments online because many of them do not have internet access at home, let alone computers.

Hence I did not find a clear relationship between the students I teach and the students mentioned in these articles, I was able to relate these articles to the generation of my younger brother and sister. I noticed that many of the characteristics discussed, especially by Howe and Strauss, were ones that are present in my younger brother and sister.

Being raised in the same household as my younger brother and sister and by the same parents, I often question how these two kids turned out so different from the rest of us in the family. I try to question my parents’ parental skill and whether they gave up on the younger ones. Questions as such always linger through my mind as I try to make sense of why my younger siblings behave in the manner they do. The rest of the kids in our family are very family-oriented, social, respectful, especially of our parents, and considerate of the feelings of others… Where did these two kids come from? When I see their behavior and their disregard for authority it really bothers me. How could these two kids be born into a family like ours? Reading these articles gave me a better understanding of “what went wrong”. They also gave me some sense of comfort. Although, initially I did not see my little brother as one who would consider going to college as an option. I now see him a little more serious about his life and the decisions he makes…sometimes. When I read the characteristics of kids in this generation, they remind me a lot of my siblings and the stages of life they have and are going through. It also helps me to see how I think of them and how they can be looked at through the eyes of others, such as Howe, Strauss and Prensky. I must admit, I did see them as self-absorbed, distrustful, rule-breakers, neglected and to some extent stupid (or at least made horrible decisions). These articles made me look at these characteristics in a different light, a more optimistic light. As many of the students in this generation, it is fair to say that, they, like all kids in their generation, are very intelligent and focused individuals. Their focuses, however, revolve more around them and less with the individuals around them. The way the Howe and Strauss defines their self-absorption, distrustfulness, rule-breaking attitudes and intelligence is really great. Once we shy away from the stereotypes of this generation and the type of world they will produce, we become more reassured that they will make things better. That they, as all kids, go through stages and eventually turn out alright.

I guess you can say that the Millennial Generation or the Digital Natives, however you want to refer to them, could actually becoming a generation of hope and change. A generation made up of smart, free-thinking individuals who are aware of what is going on in the world, who are not self-absorbed and actually think outside of the box, for a change. A generation who looks for knowledge as opposed to sitting back and getting brainwashed by the closed-minded, one-sided thoughts that are being portrayed through the media and television today.

Maybe the Millennial Generation will actually be made up of some pretty intelligent individuals.