Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Editor’s word: Nov. 6, 2013

The Boston Globe’s op-ed section has made headlines recently for columnist Jennifer Graham’s recent article regarding the millennial generation. Graham believes that children born between 1982 and 2000 have gone from becoming “the next great generation” to the idle generation. She sweeps an entire generation into the stereotype of young adults that do not want to leave the comfort of their parents’ basement. Apparently, our generation has not produced enough Mark Zuckerbergs in the eyes of Graham. It appears Graham forgot that Zuckerberg is not the only millennial that has seen early success.

Former Journal Editor-in-Chief Alex Pearlman is now a member of the Globe’s editorial board and even wrote a rebuttal to Graham’s article. Last week’s edition of the Journal included a profile of Suffolk alum Michael Barra. The former finance major now works on business development and franchise management in the theatrical department at Walt Disney Studios. These are just two local examples of members of our generation who have seen early success after applying themselves in college.

Generation Y is forced to deal with global climate change, the issues of the European Union, and the fact that America’s debt currently stands around $17 trillion. Our generation is being forced to deal with issues handed off to us from the baby boomers as they enjoy social security, a benefit Generation Y might not even have.

Our generation has no choice but to go to college and accumulate the nightmarish debt that comes along with doing so to pursue almost any career. Despite all of this, our generation is one built on acceptance of diversity and embraces the technology around us. The baby boomers might think that all we young people do is play Angry Birds on our iPads, but we are also learning how to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to get our names out there. We are applying for internships and post-graduation jobs listing social media as an expertise. And besides, nobody plays Angry Birds anymore.

Criticizing the newest generation is typical of those who came before it; history has more than a few accounts of this phenomenon. The issue with Graham’s post is that it ignores the successful members, not named Zuckerberg, our generation has had. She spends too much time making analogies and not enough time looking at the hand this generation was dealt by the ones that came before. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but sweeping an entire generation into a stereotypical category does not make for an accurate one.

 

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Editor’s word: Nov. 6, 2013