16:38 Gulf News: Millennials break down easily because they were raised by helicopter parents.
16:40 Riyad Mahmoud: I strongly agree. Parents are always making decisions for their children and have made these children highly dependent and as a result their biggest challenge is conflict negotiation. A 2013 study in the Journal of Child and Family Studies found that college students who experienced helicopter parenting reported higher levels of depression and the use of antidepressant medications.
16:40 Elizabeth Eapen: Yes, because most have never faced failure, so eventually, when they do come face to face with it some time in their life, they are clueless about how to cope with it. Helicopter parenting seems to do more harm than good in the overall development of the child.
16:41 Ramachandran Nair: I agree. Their approach is to get short-term appreciation and instant rewards. A lot of parental influence is evidenced in their way of thinking and therefore, millennials are failing to develop their own thought process.
16:44 Pranita Masand: I disagree because each person has a different personality and he or she acts in situations based on a certain comfort level. Millennials are usually risk-takers because they are able to look at things the way no one else could have looked at it in the past. This is only possible due to the amount of vast exposure this generation gets compared to other generations.
16:44 Kai Bruns: First, we would have to see what is meant exactly by ‘helicopter parents’, because I do not see the direct chain of causation.
16:45 Uzma Khan: I agree. Parents are always with them so they make sure they don’t fail - but if the millennial experiences a moment of uncertainty or failure, he or she does not know how to handle it due to lack of experience.
16:48 Gulf News: In the workplace, they do not understand hard work as they feel entitled and expect to be rewarded for simply coming on time.
16:48 Elizabeth Eapen: With everything being provided to them on a silver platter even before they ask for it, they are accustomed to instant gratification. They have grown used to a lifestyle of merely demanding ‘their rights’ without fulfilling any responsibilities.
16:51 Riyad Mahmoud: I agree. Millennials are used to being appreciated for every minor thing by their parents and as a result, when they go to the workplace, they feel they will receive the same appreciation for every small task. Sheltered from critique and failure, members of this generation ooze unearned confidence at the office, as many older coworkers and managers attest. The terms “self-involved” and “overly praised” are often used to describe generation Y.
16:52 Pranita Masand: Let’s take the example of a recent graduate. When graduates are looking for a job, their agenda is to find something that they really like or want to do and to receive a monetary reward. This monetary reward not only keeps them motivated to work harder but also makes them independent, as this is their hard-earned money. They feel proud and confident about themselves.
16:52 Kai Bruns: Work ethics might be different, though norms are passively challenged, as is the understanding that hard work equals 10 hours of being present at work. But again, the benefits are that these ‘digital natives’ are super quick, innovative and love to work... in the time most convenient to them.
16:52 Rania Atoum: This is not always true. Many millennials nowadays are highly independent and they are able to make life decisions on their own. On the other hand, they are able to do some tasks to improve their overall development and skills; not merely to get a reward.
16:58 Ramachandran Nair: If I’m not mistaken, they will be forming a majority of the workforce in a few years’ time. Therefore, they could create an impact at the workplace. I would say they are adventurous and overly impulsive, and often end up in uncertain situations. When opportunities arise, they are in a hurry and simply chase these goals without realising the hidden risks.
16:59 Elizabeth Eapen: They seem to work on the policy, “I want it and I want it now”.
16:59 Gulf News: Millennials take society for granted as they do not know what it took to build it.
17:00 Uzma Khan: I agree. Older generations have better work ethics. Sometimes, you don’t know if they are attending to your request or talking to someone on their headphones.
17:01 Elizabeth Eapen: As those who live with the luxuries of today, we do not realise the difficulties our forefathers faced to achieve them. Only those who have toiled for anything understands its true worth.
17:01 Kai Bruns: While generation X focused on jobs and success, generation Y wants more from life than work. They are asking why should I become a team leader if this implies that I have to work 12 hours a day? I think due to their focus on a healthier work-life balance, they are contributing to more profoundness in the society. Their time at home is well-spent with family and friends, which contributes to better social links and a healthier society.
17:02 Riyad Mahmoud: Millennials have always been given the things they wanted, rather than earning it the hard way. They have seen society as their parents wanted to show them. Therefore, they have no idea what it takes to build a society and maintain its stability.
17:03 Pranita Masand: They are not really taking society for granted — they just look at things differently. Older people need to make sure that they try and understand the new generation’s point of view, as they are the leaders of the future. They need to realise that just because they learnt everything the hard way doesn’t mean that’s the right way and only way to learn.
17:08 Elizabeth Eapen: Pranita, getting things the hard way is not necessarily the only right way; but it sure does make one value what is ultimately achieved.
17:09 Kai Bruns: While our parents or grandparents had a problem of shortage (of food, opportunity, time), millennials suffer from the problem of abundance. What to do, where to go, in what to specialise at university? I am not saying that this is harder, but in a way, it can be quite bothersome as well.
17:09 Gulf News: Their overly cautious upbringing makes them more sensitive and truly concerned about the world and their place in it. Do you agree or disagree?
17:11 Riyad Mahmoud: I agree. Millennials also have to face some issues that previous generations did not. A college degree is now the career equivalent of what a high school degree used to be. This increases the pressure on them to go to college and makes the process more competitive.
17:12 Pranita Masand: Millennials are more sensitive to environmental issues as compared to older generations. The education that is being received by Millennials is preparing them for the future and making them more prepared as compared to previous generations.
17:13 Kai Bruns: I agree. I think what makes them more concerned about the world is their greater exposure to it, due to globalisation, and the opportunities they have due to being able to travel.
17:15 Elizabeth Eapen: With the abundance of opportunities, many of them are not exposed to poverty or a lack of any sort. They are more sensitive to the actions of others towards them rather than towards the needs of the others. They have been cocooned to the extent that they develop into hypersensitive individuals.
17:20 Pranita Masand: Millennials are able to see and learn from the past and assess the mistakes made. This experience makes them capable of better decision making.
17:22 Riyad Mahmoud: Since we are the new generation of thinkers and it is important to know that our parents will not necessarily be there to help us in the future. It is we who need to make a mark for ourselves in order to be an example for our children and not be called ‘helicopter parents’ by the next generation.
