Are millennials as bad as everyone says they are?

Often, especially in today’s political climate, it can be difficult for the older and younger generations to understand each other. Stories, experiences and pop culture that younger generations can connect with may seem alien and absurd to those who are older, and vice versa.

It’s almost impossible to scroll through the internet without seeing an article or a Facebook listing the things that the millennial generation have done to make this world a horrible place. Everyone likes to bash the millennials, even millennials themselves.

We’re spoiled, entitled and hopelessly glued to our electronic devices. We demand trophies just for participating, can’t find jobs and live with our parents until we’re 30.

It seems sometimes like nothing good can be said about this generation’s youth, but is the hate against millennials justified?

Bruce Gibney makes an argument in his book “A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America” that the baby boomers have committed “generational plunder” by ruining the nation’s economy, repeatedly cutting their own taxes, financing two wars with deficits, ignoring climate change and leaving future generations to clean up the messes they have created.

There is so much back and forth about who is to blame all of our country’s issues that people continue to ignore all of the good things that millennials have to offer.

According to the Pew Research Center, 33 percent of millennials ages 26 to 33 have at least a college degree—a higher percentage than any previous generation.

There are also great movements that have been strengthened by young people. A great interest and participation in the fight towards gender and racial equality, and the fight against normalized sexual assault and misconduct. Movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter would’ve been impossible without the participation of millennials.

Millennials are a lot more educated than the older generations may believe. According to the Pew Research Center, millennials are the most educated generation in history; 27 percent of women and 21 percent of men have bachelor’s degrees, compared to just 7 percent of women and 12 percent of men from the Baby Boomer generation.

A study by Harris Group suggests that millennials are less materialistic than previous generations. The study found that 72 percent of millennials prefer to spend money on experiences than on material things. We’d rather have an interesting story under our belts than, well, a new belt.

According to a study commissioned by Pact and conducted by OnePoll, millennials carry out more good deeds than any older generation.

While our generation may have some things to work on, I think it’s important to note that not everything we do has to be seen as a negative.

It is very valuable for genuine, intergenerational communication to take place, because, without it, we all continue to make assumptions about and blame the other for today’s issues, without a basis in fact.