Apparently in our generation, we all know the hit single to Frozen and absolutely nothing about America. We are the millennials (or “clueless drainpipes,” if you want to ask the older generations) and we’ve been called everything from narcissistic to trophy kids to greedy, spoiled teenagers.
MRCTV recently released a video interviewing around two dozen students at American University. When asked if they were able to name a US senator, or the number of senators representing each state, most were unable to provide a correct answer.
Now, it wasn’t really the video that bothered me, because I have personally experienced some of the intelligent individuals who attend this school. But, what really bothered me were the comments people posted all over the website in response to the video. Men and women alike, commented that we have become the most “uninformed, unimpressive and ignorant generation since the nation was founded.” While I don’t know who these people are, or what their credentials may be, I don’t think any part of the video justified such mean and harsh comments against our “lack of intelligence.”
Random people shouldn’t be criticizing an entire generation based on the answers of fifteen students. Yes, some students were unable to answer correctly, but their answers aren’t representative of every AU student, every liberal, or every person born in this generation. I can almost guarantee that there are also thousands of grown adults in America who would be unable to answer any of those questions.
So what does this video prove? Absolutely nothing. A man selectively picking students who are unable to answer a certain question shouldn’t become a representation of our students, let alone, a whole generation. Some students also complained that a number of students were intentionally omitted from the video because they answered correctly. Of the 12,000 students who attend American University, roughly two dozen students appeared in the video; that’s around .2% of our entire student body. It’s obvious that the video was edited to create a certain “image” of our students.
But this isn’t even the first time older generations have criticized or blamed “us” for something. Apparently we’re incredibly narcissistic, and destroying the housing market and the NFL — all at the same time. The truth is, it doesn’t matter what year it is, the younger generations will always be different, especially when it comes to our values and priorities. Today, our generation is based on getting information from our surroundings and social media; whether it be our family, friends on Facebook, or who we follow on Twitter and Instagram.
So what does that mean about our generation? It doesn’t mean that we’re dumb, stupid, or ignorant. We have just created different priorities for ourselves and we shouldn’t have to spend our time defending our actions, or intelligence from generation to generation. After all, the world will be just fine, when we decide to takeover.
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