Millennials

This month's Leadership Magazine, a publication of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, contains an interesting article by Neil Howe and Reena Nadler entitled "Millennials Rising." The article discussed the discrepancy between the impression the older generation has of teens and the reality of their behavior.

While I agree that teens per se are no different now than they have been during the past four decades, I do think this crop of teenagers is different, different not meaning better or worse than other generations, but just different. I do disagree with Howe and Nadler of Life Course Associates on a couple of points, however.

First, let me say they have a point about today's teens - Millennials have been viewed as "special" from birth. Their "helicopter parents" have hovered over them to the point that they call their offspring every hour at school, knowing full well that students are not supposed to use their cell phones during class. According to the authors this has created a babied-but-determined generation focused on grades, team work, and leadership, and I would agree.

One claim the duo asserts and with which I disagree, however, is that our impression that teens are not doing as well in school as the "golden gererations" of the later 1940's and 1950's is wrong. The authors claim that our SAT scores are at an all time high, enrollment in AP courses is at an all-time high, and 73% of all high school students say they want a 4 year college degree. But, is this true?

I would give anything to believe it, but some glaring errors are blinding me:

• SAT scores are at an all time high - the SAT has been revised, so to make a blanket statement about the scores is not valid. Ceteris paribus, one might be able to make that analogy, but without knowing how the test has been changed, how many times students are now taking practice tests or enrolling in SAT prep courses compared to previous years makes that statement misleading.
• Enrollment in AP courses is at an all time high - ok, so what? All this means is that the College Board has expanded its offerings over the course of the last 15 - 20 years to attract more students into its program. More students means more money for the College Board - more tests sold, more test preparation materials to be published, and more teacher training off of which to make money. Additionally, students vying for ranking want the AP weighted credit, which gives them a higher G.P.A. No mention is made of increased test scores on AP Exams, the real indicator that more learning is taking place.
• 73% of students say they are going to college - but do the authors mention how many graduate in the four year period it should take to get a degree? Now it is taking the average student five to six years to finish a degree because of remedial courses which have to be taken, indicating that these Millennials are not really doing as well as we would like to believe.
• And finally, nowhere is there mention of the recent statistics that 50% of high school students fail to graduate. That is the real proof to me that Millennial kids are not doing as well in school.

The authors end with the assertion that this generation is capable of being another "greatest generation." I would caution the authors to remember what made the "Greatest Generation" what it was. They survived the Great Depression and World War II.

I hope the Millennials never have to find out what mettle they are made of, but if they are called out, I agree with Howe and Nadler that regardless of having had "helicopter parents" and the most avid youth protection policies ever, this smart and energetic generation can rise to the task, just like decades of Americans before them.