[.ca] Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (ISBN 0375707190)

From Amazon.com:
Building on the concepts they first developed in Generations and 13th Gen, Neil Howe and William Strauss now take on Generation Y, or, as they call them, the Millennials. Unlike their rather distressing portrait of the more reactive Generation X (the 13th Gen), or the negative stereotypes that abound about today's kids, this is all good news. According to Howe and Strauss, this group is poised to become the next great generation, one that will provide a more positive, group-oriented, can-do ethos. Huge in size as well as future impact, they're making a sharp break from Gen-X trends and a direct reversal of boomer youth behavior. Why? Because, as a nation, we've devoted more concern and attention their way than to any generation in, well, generations. Using their trademark paradigm, which places each generation as part of a larger historical cycle with four generations to a cycle, the authors not only describe these kids as they are now (as the first year sets off for college, the last yet to be born) but launch into projections for the future. A sampling of their potential influence in this decade: pop music will become more melodic and singable and sitcoms more melodramatic and wholesome; there will be a new emphasis on manners, modesty, and old-fashioned gender courtesies; and they'll resolve the long-standing debates about substance abuse. "They will rebel against the culture by cleaning it up, rebel against political cynicism by touting trust, rebel against individualism by stressing teamwork, rebel against adult pessimism by being upbeat, and rebel against social ennui by actually going out and getting a few things done." Scanning the future further, this hero generation will have to confront some major crises. But, for a group that has never known war or famine, will it be an opportunity or a calamity? Much of Millennials Rising is familiar territory rehashed, and the profiles and prophecies just too general. But it's hard to resist this hopeful vision for our children and the future. --Lesley Reed

No.:
This book is ridiculous. Sure they have stats. Of four high schools in ONE county in Virginia. Companies DO need to change thier policies but not by following this book. Biased and confined to one social demographic. Also check for a more recent book a lot has happened since 2000. The book says that this generation (MY generation by the way) will offer and expect loyality from thier companies. That might have been true BEFORE Enron. It also says that this generation respects authority and has faith in the government. Well. After seeing our government fail spectacularly on Sept. 11... Check for a more updated book. We've changed.

Three years later and the analysis holds:
I've used info from Millennials Rising in the classroom (MBA marketing) and in my marketing consulting practice, and I can tell you that the premise resonates with Xers and Boomers who live and work with Millennials. Yes, these kids are REALLY different from previous generations--in many ways better, in a few others disappointing--but this book is critical to identifying and understanding those differences. Think, for example, about how A & F has failed to connect with today's youth after dominating the post-teen clothing market for a decade--actually, their sales dove just as the first Millennials went off to college. Understanding generational change is extremely important to marketers and I highly recommend this book to anyone whose business targets certain age demographics.

Stop! Check everything in here first!:
Caution: Please be sure to check every fact in this book independently and do not take any statistic at face value! I advise you all to verify what you read in here with outside sources and make sure to check out the whole story on the various teen problems, attitudes and trends that are covered in this book, because many facts are taken out of context. For instance, unwed teen pregnancies are up and have actually been rising for a long time. Although Strauss & Howe note that teen pregnancy is down, the number of teen births outside of marriage is up and the drop in all teen pregnancies has only been caused by a large decline in births to teens who are actually MARRIED, the net loss in married births each year outnumbering the net gain in out-of-wedlock births from the previous year enough to keep the total number down. Those who would think that conventional and approved behavior has returned as the norm among teens after looking at teen pregnancy statistics would be well equipped to know that the traditionalist institutions of marriage and no premarital sex are not being held to at all in this sphere. The number of teen deaths from drug overdoses has actually increased from the years Xers were teens to today with Millennial teens, even though S & H would have you believe that Millennials are cleaning up everything that was done by Generation X and are becoming more clean-cut and obedient of the rules any way you slice it. They are 50% higher than the rates in the mid-90's when later Xers were teens. In fact, although you'll hear in this book that teens are becoming suddenly very different from Generation X, Gen-Xers have created almost the entire redemption of the dip in the SAT average that was created by Boomers (right up to an average of 1017), and teen suicide has been falling without any temporary setbacks or reversions since the 1970's -- it seems that Gen-X youth has been a generation of improvements, even though S & H speak of Millennials needing to reverse decades of "worsening" by Baby Boomers and Generation X. While any one statement in this book looked at alone may seem to some people like a conclusive corroboration that needs no elaboration, of a central gospel of a consistently conventional, well-behaved, well-achieving adolescent generation, the information in here should not be taken to heart unless you are going to research each topic in full detail, from the original sources (hospital reports, FBI crime statistic summaries, U.S. census tables, etc.) first, and even then a single fact may not be certain to prove a thesis of an entire generational direction. So before you look at that teen pregnancy graph and say "Hey! They're on to something! There's no way anything in this book can be false!", listen to the skeptical little voice inside you first.

So todays kids are all squares according to this book:
First of all, the only viewpoint I see of this book is very lilly-white suburbanite, you know, the stereotypical soccer mom with her family van, baby on board stickers, kids in car seats until they are teenagers, soft names for boys (Tyler, Josh, Justin, Tristan), extracurricular activities, etc. This was well meaning, but I hate to say that just doesn't seem to be the case in a lot of areas. Then again, you have to remember the kids born in the 1980's and afterwards were coming of age when there was increased awareness in child abuse and kidnappings and acceptance of "alternate lifestyles" became more common. That's why teenagers today hide themselves in changing rooms, as the author stated. I wouldn't give 10 cents to be a kid or teenager in todays world. Everytime I go to my sons school during classtime to pick him up or drop something off, it's like I'm stepping into a forbidden territory and have to watch every move. Give it another 10 years and we'll see if the kids are really better now, as adults.

Next is Generation Z?:
One gets the feeling from reading some of these books on generational differences that the authors have uncovered a goldmind of potential enless dimensions. The authors have devised a "Generation Y" rubric, which leaves them with "Generation Z" to come next, and then in the marvels of listings, back to "Generation AA", "BB," and so on. Books such as this say the obvious, but in such a way that jacket blurb writers can find a sentence or two to pull up and extol.