3 Reasons Why Generation Y Will Actually Make Great Parents

There has been quite a lot of buzz on the Internet lately about “Generation Y” and the “Millennials”. You cannot look left or right without finding an article decrying them as lazy, unmotivated, and ungrateful. Some would call into effect a great “Ass-Whooping” by which they shall be indoctrinated into the style of upbringing their own parents faced, because “kids these days are all too soft, too unaware of the harsh reality that awaits them”. Some simply call them out on their apparent disconnect with reality. But what really is this reality that we are looking at? Times have changed since our parents, and our parent’s parents, grew up. The world is a different place and it requires a different approach. Here are three reasons why I believe that my generation will make great parents.

1. Millenials Have A Fresh Perspective

If you ask nearly any parents with children out of the house, they will tell you that they raised their kids how they were raised. They turned out all right, so why change anything? The problem is, everything about how children grow up now is different than it was 30 years ago. We have instant access to vast amounts of information, and because of greater technology, the capability to maintain a much greater level of global awareness and concern. We are not resistant to new ideas, new doctrines, the way that our parents are.  Civil rights movements have the ability to become viral and gain support from a massive audience that could never have been reached even 10 years ago. I maintain the belief that a parent’s viewpoint will largely influence a child’s development, and because of Generation Y’s great exposure to worldwide concerns and movements, our children will be open and tolerant to greatly varying ways of life. They will not look upon the world through the jaded glasses that generations before them have.

2. Millenials Have A Thirst For Experience

The great battle cry of so many of our generation is the need to travel, to experience, to leave the places we know and find something new. We are no longer content to settle, to live life by the standards that have been set. I went to college very close to where I grew up, and although I don’t regret that decision at all, I have never been happier since I picked up and moved somewhere new with nothing holding me back. I needed the change of pace, and I needed something new. So many others like me feel the same need to leave the familiar and face the unknown. As I stated earlier, I believe that a parent’s perspective has a large influence on a child’s development. Our children will be imbued with a desire to gain a greater understanding of other cultures, a desire to gather and cherish new experiences, not as something alienating, but as an educational and inspirational quest on the path to find themselves.

3. Millenials Have A Desire To Share

Pinterest, Etsy, and many other similar websites thrive because of their ability to bring together communities based on common interest. Entire websites and blogs are devoted to lifestyles, and their authors want others to read and learn from them. In today’s world of technology and instant information access, everybody has a voice and an outlet through which to express it. If somebody creates something that they like, they want to share it with others. It is so easy to do this that it has practically become an occupation. People spend hours compiling a list of pins that they like because it makes it easier for other users to find something cool. Bloggers write post after post because they want to entertain their readers. We, as a generation, look at this influx of information very differently than generations before us would. We do not disregard an author because his post was made on a blog rather than in a textbook. We value everybody’s opinion because we have seen so many opinions that we have no choice but to come to the conclusion that no one voice is better than the others. This is another value that I believe will be passed on to our children.

I know that our generation’s children will grow up with parents who are compassionate and understanding, who share a great global concern, and who are more connected to each other than ever before. The kids will be all right.