The Importance of Family My generation is one who emerged from a society of the eighties and through the nineties that has experienced amazing discoveries of countless measures. Over the last twenty years, we have watched our world evolve into a place decorated for its strengths economically. Many of us in the later years of our childhood became members of a group given the name the latchkey kids. Due to the needs of our economy as well as our home lives, both parents found it important to become members of the working class. The American culture of the United States puts a very large emphasis on a person’s sense of individuality. We are told from the time that we are born that we can be whatever we want to be and to set our goals high. Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers are some of the common careers that a young child chooses. They set a path for them to achieve this, and along the way may make sacrifices for this choice of career. They want only the best for themselves and would never dream of selling themselves sort. This very idea of self-sacrifice has sparked a curiosity in my own mind. When you ask a young child what they want to be when they grow up, you expect them to reply with an answer such as a doctor. What if that child said that they just want to be a mommy or a daddy? Do you think that the general feeling for this response would be a positive one? I have often wondered if due to the high emphasis on careers in our society, do people, or more specifically, my generation still consider having a family as important to their future? Or does their future only include their career? I, for instance, am a person of more personal than economic goals. I wanted to see if th... ... middle of paper ... ...d it is comforting to know that my peers are reaching for their goals but not forgetting their personal lives. As with any research, there were limitations. If I had more time, I would have liked to interview and survey persons in my parent’s generation to find if when they were my age, did they feel they would have a family? I did everything that I believe I could to find the truth-value in my research, but I think that to look into the future it would have been beneficial to look at the ones who are already there, meaning our parents. My generation is the future, this I knew before this paper. But what I didn’t know, is that my peers have gone from children wishing to be doctors, to young adults following that path to get there. They haven’t sold themselves short. They have kept their dreams alive, and haven’t forgot the importance of family.
In Stevie Cameron’s essay “Our Daughters, Ourselves,” she proclaims “ We tell our bright, shining girls that they can be anything: firefighters, doctors, policewoman, lawyers, scientists, soldiers, athletes, artists. What we don't tell them, yet, is how hard it will be. Maybe, we say to ourselves, by the time they’re older it will be easier for them than it was for us.” My parents raised my sisters and I very congruous with this view. They would always tell us that we could do or be anything we wanted when we got older. However, contrary to Cameron’s apprehension on the matter, my parents always told us how difficult it would be straight from the beginning. They told us how financially strenuous becoming a doctor would be. They told us how
Brooks wrote this article to inform the new generation not to buy into the hype of the “baby boomers.” He uses a compare and contrast type of approach with contrasting explanations of people’s expectations versus reality. The author wants to convey a feeling of awareness, which almost feels foreboding. The intended audience is young American college students or those about to enter college. It's intent to them is to inform them of the dangers that follow graduation where expectations are concerned. This audience is comprised of both male and female readers of all races and
there is also an increase in friends placed in the voluntary kin category. The article states that people who are single or live alone think of themselves as a family. Yet studies shown that these single families tend to keep more in touch with the relatives. A statement that Dr. Coontz makes is that We’re seeing a class divide not only between the haves and the have-nots, but between the I do’s and the I do nots,”. The article also states that the way demographer noticed differences in today’s family from previous one was through the birth rates, today’s rate is about half of what it used to be in 1960. After the era of the baby boom in 1964, the rate was 36 percent, and last year the number dropped to 23.5 percent predicting a 21 percent of child births by 2050. This because less women are become mothers – yet those who are only have one or two children compared the 3 children per family in the 1970s. Another reason the articles bring up about child care is the expenses, a child can easily cost a family as little as 241,080 to about a million dollars. However, the article agrees with chapter when it states that women with a bachelor or higher wait longer to get married and have children (about 90 percent)
“A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much” written by Catherine Rampell is an informative article about today’s millennial generation after high school. It provides the reader with a deeper look into young people’s work ethic, or what some to think to be, lack-there-of. The author does a fantastic job using research, credible resources, and statistics to support her belief that Generation Y (children born in the 1980s and 1990s) is no less productive than previous generations. I will admit that before reading this piece, I was one of those who believed that Millennials were in fact the “coddled, disrespectful and narcissistic generation” (Rampell, 2011, para 3). After reading this article, my opinion has changed. It has touched on issues
From the time a child enters preschool, teachers begin asking a common question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” That dreaded query has always haunted me, mostly because the way it was redundantly asked put a ton of pressure on me and my peers. The question was like a rusty nail being hammered into our head’s by society. I continuously had the cliché answers of becoming a doctor, teacher, or a police officer, but with serious reservations. After years of not having a clue, I started to think about what I like to do after the stresses of work and school were gone at the end of the day.
Those born between the years of 1982 and 2004, became known as The Millennials, however, this generation has been redefining traditional standards set by previous generations. By this generation's standards, they want to achieve higher education and travel, things that will set them back financially which has been made as a point to their change in the expected time for adulthood. One that is willing the delay the previous generation's’ dream of marriage and family to reach their more modern take on the American Dream. Millennials have many differences from them and previous generations, they were able to look more towards “who they were” than “what needs to get done”.
When you think about family, what is the first thing that comes to mind? If you only thought about your parents or close relatives then you may have been caught in an “individual vs. family” paradox. Nearly every culture considers family important, but “many Americans have never even met all of their cousins” (Holmes & Holmes, 2002, p.19). We say we are family oriented, but not caring to meet all of our extended family seems to contradict that. Individual freedoms, accomplishments, and goals are all American ideals that push the idea of individualism. What's important to note is that family or even the concept of family itself doesn't appear in any of those ideals. Holmes and Holmes (2002), observed that “The family reunions of yesterday are now rare, and when they occur they are often a source of stress.” (p. 19) That quote solidifies one reason why family interaction today is : it's just too stressful, so we avoid it. Where does marriage fit into our culture of individuals? Marriage itself may be less of a family unifying event than a way for two individuals to obtain personal happiness; the climbing divorce rate alone seems to suggest the devaluation of commitment in a relationship. Likewise, the Holmes and Holmes (2002) state “marriage is in effect a continuation of courtship” (p. 19) In my opinion, I would have to agree with the authors on family and marriage, considering the above-stated facts and trends. If we, as a nation, can place the individual so far above our own relatives, are we not creating a future of selfishness?
...o solve these problems in an innovative manner. Pew Research Group defining my generation’s journey to adulthood, as “forging our own passage” is accurate. Millennials aspire to influence and contribute to society like their parents of the “greatest generation” accomplished. A majority of Millennials are the children of the “greatest generation”. The children of the “greatest generation” fought the ideals of their parents to become politically and socially liberal in ideals that pertain to equality, feminism, race and sex. The “greatest generation” fought to be freethinking and as parents encouraged this same behavior in their children.
There has been an increase in high paying jobs that require young people to have a higher education in developing countries that are enhancing and integrating to global economy. Technology is another factor that is becoming more prevalent in these under developed countries. It’s becoming less common for young people to go out and do agricultural work to support the family financially, as many parents rather support and make it easier for their children to go to school. These entire factors can eventually open up all the possibilities for more and more emerging adults to experience life and explore their independence, as countries become wealthier chances are that more young people can go to school and move in to a dorm and have a semi independent lifestyle until they reach adulthood. This can benefit our future generations to come and potentially increase the life expectancy and become achievable adults that live a longer and prosperous life. This will be a new evolution for the young people now and the young people to come, this means more educated people, which call change the way our jobs, economy, and development of our countries can be. More young people will explore their horizons and develop to be the best they can be instead of being forced to work a full time low paying job and hit a dead end. Perhaps one day the new
Millennials are well on their way to redefining the “American Dream.” In a world where they have to constantly exercise critical thinking to financially survive the debts the average Millennial life incurs, suggesting that their reluctance to fall into the status quo will hurt them is a stagnant, inflexible view. It only hurts those entrenched in a narrow worldview limited to one accepted lifestyle and standard of living. To this life, Millennials are thoroughly disillusioned. They’re causing all these economic ‘problems’ because they aren’t buying into the hazy suburban complacency that the traditional dream represents. It’s not just that it costs too much to get there, it’s mostly that it’s hardly achievable. Contemporary high school is less of a system for education as it is an Olympic triathlon. Students must jump through every well-nigh arbitrary hoop, competing against each other for the most scholarship money based on the right opinion said in the right words. Who was in the most meaningless clubs at the same time? Who happened to attend a school with the most extra-curricular activities or AP courses? When school – that
Generation On a Tightrope (2012) examines the framework of today’s college student. From the outside looking in, Arthur Levine and Diane Dean conducted a study of the millennial generation to offer an interpretation of the elements that define their existence. The researchers set out to “discuss the nature of their world, the ways in which it will likely flower, develop, and mature in years ahead; and the demands that it will make on its citizens” (Levine & Dean, 2012, p.155). The study was meant to educate current and emerging professionals who will interact and aid in the process of their overall development. To achieve this, a range of societal, personal, and cultural topics were discussed, throughout the text, in hopes of providing a better understanding to prepare both professionals and students for successful interaction.
Poswolsky had interviewed dozens of millennials about their career choices for The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, but not even one of them answered that they wanted to "make lots of money," or "have lots of power." Many of them answered that they wanted to "teach urban teenagers how to avid debt and become successful entrepreneurs," or "inspire young girls to think they can become engineers." Poswolsky said that millennials aren't motivated by money, but they are motivated in making the world more compassionate, innovative, and sustainable.
Society seems to have many different opinions when it comes to relationships and families and what is ideal. The ideal family may not exist anymore. We now have in our society families that are complete that do not necessarily contain the traditional material. The traditional family, as society would see it; usually consist of a married, mother and father and usually children. Moms are supposed to stay at home while dads work the forty-hour a week job. However, in our 2003 world, families exist in a lot of non-traditional ways. A lot of families now consist of single parent families, or same sex parents and their children, or even couples that are unmarried but live together. And even now, if a family contains what society sees as traditional as far as having a mom, dad, and kids, other aspects are not traditional anymore. Women now have more opportunity in the workplace than they have ever had, therefore, many moms are career moms and dads are sometimes staying at home. Years ago, these types of families were given labels for being dysfunctional or abnormal, however, this label is not holding up as well as it did years ago. There are many non-traditional families that are raising children in a loving, nurturing home with a substantial amount of quality love. Quality is the key in any relationship between anyone. Society is finding out that it is not the traditional image that makes a loving family, but the quality of a relationship that people give to each other is what really makes a family. In the essay "The Myth of the "Normal" Family", written by Lousie B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach, they make references to the cultural idea of what a "normal" family should be and what i...
Nearly 3.7 million American babies born in 1982 were the first members of the new Generation Y, or more affectionately known as millenials (Thompson, par. 1). Many things play into whether a generation is considered to be faring ‘better’ than another one; job opportunities, the state of the environment, whether the U.S. is at peace or at war, income vs. living expenses, the general happiness of the people, and the list goes on. Millenials are part of a special generation because for decades, “The American Dream” has included the belief that the future generation will fare better than the present one; however, millenials are not projected to fare better than the present generation X for many reasons.
Have you ever wondered why a child or any human of mankind acts or thinks a certain way? When my teachers or others in general ask me what do I want to be when I grow up my first answer is always undecided. Therefore most of the time I respond with the answer of becoming a child psychologist. There are many different fields of psychology. Since my career is undecided, I just stick with becoming a child psychologist. I love little kids and helping when needed. If I manage to make it in this career then I will do it for the sake of my time being here on earth.