'Millennials' are hopeful and helpful, not coarse and cynical, book argues
By ANDREW BROWNSTEIN
It may be hard to believe now, but in the early 1960's, it was still possible
to
find a Pat Boone record at the top of the pop charts or an Annette Funicello
movie at the local Bijou.
The culture seemed so bland, in fact, that Clark Kerr, then president of
the
Uni versity of California system, predicted
that the next wave of students was "going
to be easy to handle."
By the end of the decade, that forecast had
gone up in smoke like so many burning
draft cards.
Forty years later, college administrators look at the Generation X culture
of
Eminem and South Park and predict that the students of the future will
continue its coarse and cynical ways.
But if a new book is correct, those officials will follow in the unenviable
footsteps of Mr. Kerr.
In Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (Vintage Books), Neil
Howe and William Strauss argue that youth culture is on the cusp of a
radical shift, much as it was in the Beach Blanket Bingo days of the 60's.
The "Millennials," the generation that begins with this year's college
freshmen
and extends into the near future, is team-oriented, optimistic, and, like
the
G.I.'s who fought in World War II, poised for greatness on a global scale,
according to Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss. And, if the authors are right, many
of those changes will be seen first on college campuses.
"I think campuses will be unrecognizable in the year 2010," says Mr.
Strauss.
By the time the second decade of the new millennium rolls around, the
Zeitgeist on campuses might be something like this: The least race-conscious
and most female-dominated generation in U.S. history will have increasingly
less patience for the politics of boomer faculty members and will rebel
against university policies they see as promoting separatism. Admissions
offices will increasingly be focusing on men, who will be dropping out
in
record numbers. In an age when the most important color is green, class
will
overtake race as the hot topic of debate.
Parents who once obsessed over their youngsters' Little League games will
play an equally meddlesome role once their children go to college.
Universities will create offices of parental relations to handle the avalanche
of
e-mail from mom and dad.
Boomer parents engaged in free love and talked about changing the world.
The authors say that the far-more-modest Millennials, who even shied away
from gym showers in high school, will talk about sex but work at making
real
changes in society.
If, at first blush, it is hard to accept the notion of children reared
on Barney
and Boyz II Men being "the next great generation," consider the evidence:
According to national surveys cited by the authors, homicide, violent crime,
abortion, and pregnancy among teens have all plummeted at the fastest rates
ever recorded. Teen suicide rates are falling for the first time in decades.
The Millennials' views are diametrically opposed to those of their parents.
Half of Millennials say they trust political leaders to do what's right
all or
most of the time, according to a 1997 CBS News/New York Times poll. A
1998 Primedia/Roper National Youth Opinion survey found that, when
asked "What is the major cause of problems in this country?" more
teenagers named "selfishness" than anything else.
Those on the leading edge of the generation say they are aware --
sometimes painfully so -- of the pressure to become better than their
parents.
"I think we are being molded into something more ideal," says Alexandra
Kagan, a freshman at Union College, in Schenectady, N.Y. "It was like
reality hit ... and people realized society was on a downward spiral. They're
trying to have us conform to a new standard, rather than have us run all
over
the place like they did."
Millennials, as portrayed in the book, are a generation accustomed to
following rules. They grew up with uniforms in elementary school, new
achievement tests in junior high, and metal detectors in high school.
Far from the image conveyed in the media of an idle youth, the authors
argue, Millennials are programmed by their parents to an extraordinary
degree, with ambitious schedules of homework and extracurricular activities.
"I don't want to say my childhood was rushed," says Christopher Loyd, a
freshman at San Antonio College who was interviewed by the authors. "It
was just very busy."
The reason that Mr. Kerr and current prognosticators come out wrong on
the youth question is that they assume that each generation will be a linear
extension of the one before, according to Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss.
The authors hold a Hegelian view of history that predicts generations will
evolve in cyclical patterns: Each new generation attempts to solve a problem
facing the previous youth generation, corrects the behavioral excesses
it sees
in the current midlife generation, and fills a social role being vacated
by the
departing elder generation.
Hence, if the authors are right, the Millennials will form the communities
that
alienated Xers longed for, heal the societal fabric worn by narcissistic
boomers, and build institutions as did their G.I. forebears.
"Boom and X are a very libertarian combination, and that's what they're
rebelling against," says Mr. Howe.
Every generation has an icon who comes to symbolize its ethos. For the
college students of the 60's, it might have been Abbie Hoffman or Timothy
Leary.
The Millennials are too young yet to have their own symbol, but Craig
Kielburger, a 17-year-old Canadian, may come close.
When he was 12, Mr. Kielburger read a newspaper article about a Pakistani
boy his age who was sold into bondage and murdered when he spoke out
against child labor. Using the Internet, Mr. Kielburger mobilized volunteers,
and within five years, had established Free the Children, a 100,000-member
organization that assists children's causes around the world.
In the authors' view, Mr. Kielburger's vision is a precursor of the kind
of
change and organization of which Millennials are capable. "This is a
generation that will build rockets to go to Mars rather than make movies
that
wonder whether we should," says Mr. Strauss.
Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss make an unlikely pair of historians. Mr. Howe
is
an economic-policy consultant and a senior adviser to the Concord
Coalition, an organization formed by several former U.S. senators to battle
the federal deficit and protect Social Security. Mr. Strauss is the director
of
the Capitol Steps, a Washington-based satirical-theater troupe.
They met in the 1980's, and their mutual interests led to the 1991 publication
of Generations (William Morrow), a study of 14 American generations from
Plymouth Rock to the present. Though academic respectability largely has
eluded them, their four works have won critical acclaim and the ear of
the
powerful. Vice President Al Gore called Generations "the most stimulating
book on American history I have ever read."
But to some, the authors' generational theory sounds like the sociological
equivalent of a Ouija board.
"It's impossible to separate generations that way," says Arthur E. Levine,
president of Teachers College of Columbia University and coauthor of When
Hope and Fear Collide: A Portrait of Today's College Students
(Jossey-Bass, 1998). "These are just stereotypes."
The authors counter that their theories are easily tested. Besides, they
add,
they've been saying pretty much the same thing for more than a decade.
In
1991, when it looked to most critics like the youth culture was spinning
out
of control, Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss were virtually alone in forecasting
that
crime rates would fall and academic performance would rise by the end of
the decade.
In the case of Millennials Rising, many students and administrators say
they
can already see indicators of the trends predicted by the authors.
"Five or six years ago, students were real angry," says Linda Kuk, vice
president for student affairs at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
"There
was an overwhelming sense of entitlement. It was always 'I pay your salary,
and you should do what I say. Screw your rules.'"
Those attitudes are slowly starting to change, she says. Students are still
getting in trouble, but are more likely to take responsibility for their
actions.
When tragic events occur in their lives, Ms. Kuk said, students tend to
be
more resilient.
"They seem, on the whole, happier," she says.
In the eyes of Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss, the generational tone of the
Millennials was set by the determination of their parents to avoid the
neglectful child-rearing practices of their past. The Millennials' college
experience will be marked by parents who give new meaning to the word
"overprotective."
"The parental perfection complex is coming to college," says Mr. Strauss.
"Picture the parents watching youth soccer becoming the parents watching
the admissions process -- with the stakes even higher.''
The authors predict that the push for higher standards in elementary and
secondary school will be transferred to college. There will be increased
calls
for pregraduation competency testing and the elimination of remedial classes.
The line between the haves and the have-nots will be drawn over issues
like
who can afford college-selection counselors and private tutors. With the
competition intense, rejected students and their parents will complain
more
and more about a perceived unfairness in admissions.
The authors' notion of an Office of Parental Relations is not science fiction.
There's already one at the Rochester institute, and many others have
emerged in recent years.
Some younger students find all the parental attention a tad embarrassing.
"My parents walked me through every step of the admissions process," says
Mr. Loyd. "During orientation, it was humiliating. I was walking around
campus with my mom."
On the social front, the old boomer causes tied to race and gender will
fade,
the authors write, "to the chagrin of aging faculty." In their place, there
will be
new questions -- about class and the dwindling numbers of men. As women
increasingly take over the leadership of student government and clubs,
and
men flee academe for the workplace, "how to bring young men back into
higher education will become recognized as a national problem," the authors
state.
John N. Gardner, executive director of the Policy Center on the First Year
of College at Brevard College, in North Carolina, says the trend is already
well under way.
"Men are in for a rude awakening," he says. "There are very few things
that I
am sure of, and that's one of them. It's the biggest change I've seen on
campuses in 33 years."
In an otherwise optimistic take on the current youth culture, Millennials
Rising strikes one loud note of discord.
With their love of rules and trust in institutions, the Millennials could
be led
astray by a demagogue or use technology in Orwellian ways, the authors
write. Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss note that the G.I. generation, which the
Millennials are supposed to emulate, came of age at the same time as others
who followed a strong leader in the pursuit of a giant cause: their
counterparts in Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia.
But a less fanciful possibility is that a generation that combines the
cultural
conservatism of the 50's with the Big Government politics of the 60's might
just turn out ... boring, prone to practicality rather than creativity
or
introspection.
Lucy E. Rollin, a professor of English at Clemson University and author
of
20th Century Teen Culture by the Decades (Greenwood Press, 1999),
says she has noticed that her recent students demand that "everything be
spelled out" in detail and have trouble thinking for themselves.
"I was trying to get them to write with their own voice," Ms. Rollin recalls.
"But they couldn't use the word 'I.' They said their high-school teachers
never let them use it. It was sad, really."
Then again, Ms. Rollin was born in 1941, making her a member of the
so-called Silent Generation. The tides of history were different then.
college students of the 60's, it might have been Abbie Hoffman or Timothy
Leary.
The Millennials are too young yet to have their own symbol, but Craig
Kielburger, a 17-year-old Canadian, may come close.
When he was 12, Mr. Kielburger read a newspaper article about a Pakistani
boy his age who was sold into bondage and murdered when he spoke out
against child labor. Using the Internet, Mr. Kielburger mobilized volunteers,
and within five years, had established Free the Children, a 100,000-member
organization that assists children's causes around the world.
In the authors' view, Mr. Kielburger's vision is a precursor of the kind
of
change and organization of which Millennials are capable. "This is a
generation that will build rockets to go to Mars rather than make movies
that
wonder whether we should," says Mr. Strauss.
Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss make an unlikely pair of historians. Mr. Howe
is
an economic-policy consultant and a senior adviser to the Concord
Coalition, an organization formed by several former U.S. senators to battle
the federal deficit and protect Social Security. Mr. Strauss is the director
of
the Capitol Steps, a Washington-based satirical-theater troupe.
They met in the 1980's, and their mutual interests led to the 1991 publication
of Generations (William Morrow), a study of 14 American generations from
Plymouth Rock to the present. Though academic respectability largely has
eluded them, their four works have won critical acclaim and the ear of
the
powerful. Vice President Al Gore called Generations "the most stimulating
book on American history I have ever read."
But to some, the authors' generational theory sounds like the sociological
equivalent of a Ouija board.
"It's impossible to separate generations that way," says Arthur E. Levine,
president of Teachers College of Columbia University and coauthor of When
Hope and Fear Collide: A Portrait of Today's College Students
(Jossey-Bass, 1998). "These are just stereotypes."
The authors counter that their theories are easily tested. Besides, they
add,
they've been saying pretty much the same thing for more than a decade.
In
1991, when it looked to most critics like the youth culture was spinning
out
of control, Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss were virtually alone in forecasting
that
crime rates would fall and academic performance would rise by the end of
the decade.
In the case of Millennials Rising, many students and administrators say
they
can already see indicators of the trends predicted by the authors.
"Five or six years ago, students were real angry," says Linda Kuk, vice
president for student affairs at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
"There
was an overwhelming sense of entitlement. It was always 'I pay your salary,
and you should do what I say. Screw your rules.'"
Those attitudes are slowly starting to change, she says. Students are still
getting in trouble, but are more likely to take responsibility for their
actions.
When tragic events occur in their lives, Ms. Kuk said, students tend to
be
more resilient.
"They seem, on the whole, happier," she says.
In the eyes of Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss, the generational tone of the
Millennials was set by the determination of their parents to avoid the
neglectful child-rearing practices of their past. The Millennials' college
experience will be marked by parents who give new meaning to the word
"overprotective."
"The parental perfection complex is coming to college," says Mr. Strauss.
"Picture the parents watching youth soccer becoming the parents watching
the admissions process -- with the stakes even higher.''
The authors predict that the push for higher standards in elementary and
secondary school will be transferred to college. There will be increased
calls
for pregraduation competency testing and the elimination of remedial classes.
The line between the haves and the have-nots will be drawn over issues
like
who can afford college-selection counselors and private tutors. With the
competition intense, rejected students and their parents will complain
more
and more about a perceived unfairness in admissions.
The authors' notion of an Office of Parental Relations is not science fiction.
There's already one at the Rochester institute, and many others have
emerged in recent years.
Some younger students find all the parental attention a tad embarrassing.
"My parents walked me through every step of the admissions process," says
Mr. Loyd. "During orientation, it was humiliating. I was walking around
campus with my mom."
On the social front, the old boomer causes tied to race and gender will
fade,
the authors write, "to the chagrin of aging faculty." In their place, there
will be
new questions -- about class and the dwindling numbers of men. As women
increasingly take over the leadership of student government and clubs,
and
men flee academe for the workplace, "how to bring young men back into
higher education will become recognized as a national problem," the authors
state.
John N. Gardner, executive director of the Policy Center on the First Year
of College at Brevard College, in North Carolina, says the trend is already
well under way.
"Men are in for a rude awakening," he says. "There are very few things
that I
am sure of, and that's one of them. It's the biggest change I've seen on
campuses in 33 years."
In an otherwise optimistic take on the current youth culture, Millennials
Rising strikes one loud note of discord.
With their love of rules and trust in institutions, the Millennials could
be led
astray by a demagogue or use technology in Orwellian ways, the authors
write. Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss note that the G.I. generation, which the
Millennials are supposed to emulate, came of age at the same time as others
who followed a strong leader in the pursuit of a giant cause: their
counterparts in Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia.
But a less fanciful possibility is that a generation that combines the
cultural
conservatism of the 50's with the Big Government politics of the 60's might
just turn out ... boring, prone to practicality rather than creativity
or
introspection.
Lucy E. Rollin, a professor of English at Clemson University and author
of
20th Century Teen Culture by the Decades (Greenwood Press, 1999),
says she has noticed that her recent students demand that "everything be
spelled out" in detail and have trouble thinking for themselves.
"I was trying to get them to write with their own voice," Ms. Rollin recalls.
"But they couldn't use the word 'I.' They said their high-school teachers
never let them use it. It was sad, really."
Then again, Ms. Rollin was born in 1941, making her a member of the
so-called Silent Generation. The tides of history were different then.
A New View of Students
Baby Boomer Generation X Millennial
Overall mood
passionate
cynical
practical
View of authority
attacked
ignored
trusted
Academic
standards
easing
lax
tightening
Parental role
receding
distant
intruding
Violence and
risk-taking
rising
high
conventional
Pop culture
controversial
alienated
bland
Racial/ethnic
consciousness
asserted
accepted
questioned
Cutting-edge fields
arts and
humanities
business and
high tech
politics and social
science
Community service
falling
low
rising
Main arguments
about war and
country
about race
and gender
about class and
culture
The big question
what does it
mean?
does it work?
how do we build
it?