Millenials In The New Millenium

‘Echo Boomers’: The Best Thing Since ‘Baby Boomers’
By Rayanne Mulieri

The term “echo boomers” is being used to describe the generation of people born between 1982 and 1995, my generation. According to a CBS 60 Minutes report titled “The Echo Boomers” myself, along with 80 million others within this generation are the most studied, and talked about generation since the “baby boomers.”

This report touched upon a topic that really got me thinking about my “echo boomer” generation. Dr. Mel Levine a professor at the University of North Carolina states, “they (“the echo boomers”) have been heavily programmed.” Levine talks about how kids schedules are exceedingly busy, with barely a day off. I would have to agree with this statement. Growing up, my schedule, along with the schedules of my friends and peers was full of dance class, music lessons, sports, and after-school activities. Although Levine believes that parents are telling us to take part in all of these activities, I know I enjoyed and continued to keep a busy lifestyle because of the work ethic I developed at a young age.

With the changing economic status of our country, and as the cost of living is increasing drastically, parents want to make sure that they mold their children into hard workers. When you start to develop a work ethic at a young age you will more then likely continue this mentality, and it will hopefully pay off in the end by providing you the opportunity of going to a good college, and securing a better than average career.

The desire to please parents, teachers, and bosses, is instilled in me, and most of my generation. When I say most of my generation, it brings me to the idea that throughout this piece the “echo boomers” were being classified as one whole entity. Yes, we may be born within the same time frame but what about demographics, economic status, and how each individual was or is being raised? These factors are crucial to the upbringing of a child, and of course are severely different within every household.

Let us put things into perspective. Yes, we are the first generation to grow up with such technologies as computers and cell phones right at our fingertips. In essence, we have grown up alongside these also “growing” technologies. As a result, we are used to having immediate satisfaction in any situation because of these tools. This has changed the way our generation gets our information as well as, our patience level. Levine speaks to a CEO of a corporation and asks him a characteristic of his employees who are a part of the “echo generation.”

The response is that our generation cannot think long-range, and everything has to be immediate. In some ways I agree with this. I know I am used to getting information quickly and easily. Heaven forbid my Internet is down, or I have no cell phone service. But it is not our fault we grew up in such a technologically advanced society!

Every generation has it’s differences, simply because every generation is different. Marketing strategies, technology, mentalities and everyday life changes drastically because the world and society is forever changing. There are some generalizations made about the “echo boomers,” but they all seemed to be somewhat positive. I think it is better to read about your generation as being hard working, as able to change companies’ marketing strategies, and technologically savvy; then to read about how your generation is poisoning the world for future generations. The “echo boomers” are what’s “In” and undeniably the future of our society.