The Reality of Millennials Today

Ms. Usha Kaitlin A. Ubalde

Millennials in our society today are known as the children with a sense of
entitlement. Their flaws are something that is beyond their grasp and it is the corporate
environment that is built around them that shaped the millennials’ minds on how they
socialize. Millennials are the individuals that are born in the early 1980s until late 1990s,
so technically they are individuals that are in the age range of 22-37 and are capable of
interacting with others. As what Dr. Jose Rizal said, “Ang Kabataan ay Pag-asa ng
Bayan.” It has been the concern of the society that millennials are getting narcissistic and
therefore is toxic to be in the same work place as them. Millennials believe that they
deserve exceptional opportunities and they want to make a significant impact in the world.
They want to be at the top of the pyramid which they think is where you achieve the best
things in life. Millennials are developing the “me-me-me” attitude and in this period of
modernization, a lot of factors greatly influenced how they work. The big question is, “Why
are millennials developing the entitled behavior?”

Millennials are born in a family with demanding parents. When millennials were
young, their parents treat them like they are kings and queens. But as millennials grew
up and faced the real world, they realized that there are other people that are equally
capable as them or more capable than them. In the creation of human persons, we are
taught that God created us all equally and we have the capacity to do something
tremendous in our lives because we are all unique yet fundamentally equal. Demanding
parents could be a good thing as they want their children to excel and do great things.
They help their children have the best grades and want them to be top students. They
discipline their children by monitoring their scores in exams, making sure they sleep early
to have enough sleep, encouraging them to mingle with others to have a positive impact
on others, and many more. Despite the good intentions of parents, some children tend to
fall and develop mental disorders which makes it hard for them to interact with others.
Some children even become rebellious to their parents and weaken their relationship with
them. In the Ten Commandments, God taught us to honor our Mother and Father. Parents
are doing whatever they think is best for their child. They are not perfect, so there would
always be a time that they could be tough. It is sad to know that millennials haven’t thought
thoroughly and believe that they could live independently. However, technology is a factor
that separates family bonds because millennials may have seen or heard of the wonders
of living independently.

Technology made a huge impact in the minds of millennials. Technology gave

millennials the access to gadgets and social medias. They release a chemical called
“dopamine” which is highly addictive and makes millennials feel joy whenever they
receive a text, a like, or a comment in their social medias. It causes millennials to be lazy
and waste time instead of doing something more worthwhile. With these social medias,
millennials are able to socialize with others. Messenger, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
Snapchat, and many more make it possible to bring people from the same or different
places to connect. Because of these social medias, millennials are able to express what
they want or what they feel. The down side is that it could decrease the self-esteem of an
individual because they get insecure of people that are better than them and they fear of
being rejected or embarrassed. It is our duty as human persons to respect the human
dignity of others. Millennials should learn to treat others nicely in order to be able to be
treated nicely in return. Some individuals even reach the point of faking a picture or a
story in order to maintain a special place in the public eye where others could envy about
his or her life. With social medias, millennials are either victims or suspects in any
scenario of injustice. Millennials could also want what they discover with technologies
because of the impact it makes on them and as we all know, not all things are virtuous in
social media. Millennials are becoming conscious of themselves and develop the
mentality that they could be greater than anyone else. They care too much or too less of
themselves which makes them more narcissistic. Socializing in not as habitual as it used
to because millennials are getting virtual. The characters of millennials are degraded
because of their entitled mindset. In spite of the influence of technology, true joy and job
satisfaction could not be met because millennials are aiming for something greater.

Millennials have the tendency of yearning for something beyond what they have
and feel the discontentment. The impact that millennials want to achieve is their number
one goal in life. They become passionate and work hard in order to achieve the success
they want. When they are one step closer to their goal, there is that greed that makes
them want more. Whenever someone else gets the role or the job that millennials wanted,
envy comes because they fear that they will not get what they want to reach the top of
the pyramid where they think success is. Greed and envy is part of the seven deadly sins
and as human persons; we should not give in to these mortal sins. I would like to quote
what Yoda said, “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
Millennials should not be toxic people because they will only suffer from the mentality that
is brought upon the lack of leadership in the society that taught them that life is wonderful
once you succeed in making an impact.

Adults should guide the millennials virtuously and have good leadership to initiate
a change that there is still a room for improvement. As human persons, millennials should
learn to be morally right in all circumstances. A person can still change his or her behavior
as long as he or she is able and willing to. Adults should be thoughtful of the bright future
a millennial possesses and know when to or when no to correct them. When millennials
are being entitled, their capacity to socialize are slowly taken away and adults should help
in preventing that. A country develops when its citizens are satisfied and is one with the
government, and communication allows socializing to happen which connects people into
one to improve the country. Millennials should have self-control. They should be cautious
of their behavior, decisions, and actions. We should build a bond with others and socialize
more. Millennials need to limit the circumstances of being distant from other people.
Besides, as what John Donne said, “No Man is an Island.” Millennials are being entitled
because they fear that they are going to be abandoned once they do not reach the
success that others expect them to achieve. Millennials should know the right time of
being independent. As human persons, millennials should learn to be morally right in all
circumstances. The only thing that could possibly change the entitled minds of millennials
is socializing. Forming bonds makes people closer that destroys narcissism and spread
optimism.