The Entitlement Generation By Jean M. Twenging

Margaret Wente’s Globe and Mail article on the existence and characteristics of the entitlement generation in Canada is both opinionated and thought provoking. The author strongly supports that the entitlement mindset is quite prevalent in Canada’s universities, has been nurtured by its preceding generation and has led to students’ unrealistic work expectations. Although Wente effectively communicates her opinions regarding the entitlement generation, her arguments are compromised by poor use of appeal to authority and a polarized approach to the topic.

This book is a sequel to the Generations book by the same authors. It is very optimistic about the potential and qualities of the Millennial generation. For instance, they are born in an era when children were viewed more positively, they are more optimistic, cooperative, accepting of authority, rule followers, are the most watched over generation, smart, and believe they can change the future.

Being distracted by your phone for a split second can not only change your life forever, but possibly someone else’s around you. Checking to see texts, answering calls or seeing the latest tweet has become more important than road safety. Society is forgetting how to communicate with each other without the use of technology. While sitting in a waiting room or standing in an elevator, take a look around you. In todays society, rather than talking to each other we are more inclined to use out cell phones to pass the time.

In the book, Generation Me: Why today's young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled and more miserable than ever before, author-researcher Jean Twenge explores the nature of the Generation Y, people who were born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The phenomenon that Twenge sought to explore in detail was how the Generation Y became the "Entitlement Generation" or, as she eventually coined the term, the "Generation Me." From the title itself, she described the Generation Me as a group of individuals who are "confident, assertive, entitled" but "miserable." Indeed, the book's thesis highlights how the youth of Generation Me are highly individualist and primarily centers on the "self." As in the words of Twenge, ""¦GenMe doesn't just question authority we disrespect it entirely" (28). This statement ultimately sums up the GenMe's attitude and viewpoint about respecting institutions, traditions, beliefs and values that held previous generations and societies together.

In September of 2017, Jean Twenge released the article “Have Smart Phones Destroyed a Generation?” She writes about the concerning effects social media/cell phones have on people. In the article, Twenge mentions a national news story of a girl who had woken up to her phone melting beside her in bed. This made Twenge curious why a person feels the need to sleep next to their phone. She then asked her undergrad students where they put their phones when they go to sleep.

With the development of the telephone that was connected to a dialer via cable to wireless transmitted mobile phones. Reflecting on how she communicated in her youthful days, Mrs. Nguyen stated, “If we wanted to meet up somewhere, we would go to each other homes or meet at school and plan there, there were no such things as phones.” It is obvious to see that social change has taken place between generation X and Z. As the youth of generation Z are very reliant on mobile phones, found from the age of 13-17, 73% of teenagers obtain or are granted access to a smartphone and whereas 12% either choose not to have one or do

Cellphone Controversies In the article, “Cell Phones and Social Graces,” by Charles Fisher, Fisher talks about how people are slaved into their cell phones and how many people allow it to impact their lives. Fisher’s main idea in this article is that cell phone technology nowadays ruins people sociological and cultural actions and is also a reason why he refuses to have a cell phone of his own. Fisher uses his own personal experiences and his observations to support his main idea on how people allow a cellphone device to impact their daily lives. Fisher gives personal examples to support his main idea when he talks about not owning a cell phone and explains how distracting it is nowadays to own a cellphone compared to a few years ago.

They both refer to individuals born between 1965 to 1980 as Generation X and people born in 1981 through 2000 are Millennials. Both assert that both generations have many similarities and interests. Both are independent, tech savvy, favor balance, security, personal responsibility, personal growth and easily adapt to change. However, Bennett suggests that Millennials are multitaskers, idealistic, value diversity, favor teamwork and need constant feedback, while Gen Xers work independently and need extraordinarily little feedback. Dunn’s analysis accounts for four generations, while Bennett’s analysis identifies individuals born after 2000 as “Nexters” and describes this group as tech savvy individuals with low attention spans, minimal interpersonal communication skills, who need constant feedback and favor

Jean M. Twenge in the novel, Generation Me admitted that Generation me was in fact born into a world that celebrated the individual, which influenced her to create this term “Generation Me”. From the second they were born their parents loved them and made them feel as if they were princesses or princes. The generation Me was taught that they were entitled to greatness because they were after all, amazing. I remember playing with my cute miniature Barbie dolls as a little girl and hearing my mother brag about how I was such a good girl. She would then move as far as putting a bright neon pink princess sticker on a bulletin board, which had my name in bold to demonstrate my superiority.

Many studies have been done focusing on the millennial generation. Most of them prove that we are self-absorbed and entitled, but there are also many studies showing how positive and accepting we are. The term ’millennial’ is broadly defined as individuals born between 1980 and 2000, but it all depends on who you ask. Some people will tell you that millennials are self-centered narcissist. For many people, millennials are the future, and the future looks very bright.

“The Try-Hard Generation,” by Fareed Zakaria, tells about the views of other generations on the millennial generation. Zakaria informs that a lot of those who are older than the millennials put labels on them down putting and not really good. Those people giving the labels are expecting the millennials to be like their generation and act like their generation when they were the same age. Zakaria explains that it is thought that since the millennials do not challenge the system with protesting and rebellion, then they must not be a great generation like the ones before it. Zakaria goes on and says that they millennials are just

The millennial generation is defined as the generation of children born between 1980 and 2000. This is the generation of young men and women fully committing themselves to personal aspirations. Time Magazine published an article titled “Millennials: the Me Me Me Generation,” which claimed millennials are lazy, self-entitled, self-obsessed narcissists. Yet, millennials are also known for being realistic.

In Joel Stein’s article, “The New Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All,” Stein raises once the tired, and frankly misplaced idea that the younger generation are all lazy, entitled, and narcissistic. While Mr. Stein brings some interesting facts to our attention concerning the inclinations of millennials to seemingly be a whole lot less driven in a society that is rapidly changing for better or worse, he does little to explain the sort of world they are set to inherit in the near future. A world overwhelmed with ever faster evolving technologies and the inevitable social upheaval of an increasingly globalized, hyper competitive world where millennials will compete in a dramatically different environment than the one they were born and raised in. While millennials are essentially the same as every other generation in terms of raw human potential, they may just be able to have a greater effect on their peers in other parts world than any generation before. When the day comes to affect major

Millennials, a group of people who were born in the year 1984 and after. There are millions of them and they are our future. According to Simon Sinek, millennials “are accused of being entitled and narcissistic, self interested, unfocused and lazy.” Even though Millennials lack in some aspects, he believes that parenting, technology, impatience and environment is to blame. As a millennial, I totally agree with Sinek’s point because I am affected by all the variables that he listed ever since birth. Millennials did not do anything wrong but, the way they were raised affected their attitudes.

As much as I regret to admit it, I’m attached to my phone. I’m constantly reaching into my pocket to check the time, make sure I haven’t gotten a new update, or to send a message. I do this even when I’m not talking to anyone! It’s become an addiction, having to make sure I’m not missing anything, and I'm not the only one who has this problem. Seventy-five percent of the world population has a cell phone, and that number will only increase. With the creation of new technology portions of life have become easier. Technology has changed the way we go through life. It’s made talking to people easier, as well as keeping up with the lives of others. However, the effects have affected the aspects of our lives that don’t include technology.