In her article “Help! My Parents are Millennials!” Katy Steinmetz discusses the way the millennial parents treat their families. The author claims that being more self-centered and totally different from all the previous generations, millennials are choosing totally different parental patterns. They are totally dependent on the Internet and find answers to any problems they face in Google. Due to the social networks millennials are more open for both critics and approval. As Steinmetz states, the whole world is able to see the way the millennial generation raises their children. The author effectively proves that due to the appearance of social networks and millennials’ desire to receive approval and share the way they raise children, parenting has become more competitive than ever.
It is possible to say that the targeted audience of this article is mainly millennial generation. It would be useful for them to read the article in order to understand that many people from the millennial generation have the some problems and often feel themselves under pressure. The article provides numerous evidences why these people often feel pressure. Sharing with people the information about their parenting and the whole life and observing the same information provided by other people, millennials often feel that they are participating in a certain competition. Steinmetz’s article will provide them with outside point of view. The article would be also useful for general audience as it touches a number of problems that each parent could face in one’s life. Thus, each parent wants to know how to raise a good child. Moreover, each parent wants to receive approval of one’s methods. It is clear that parents constantly feel pressure from the outside and that they want to learn how to overcome it. Indeed, it is a hard job to be a good parent, especially in modern world.
Considering the targeted audience of the article, it is clear that the main purpose of Steinmetz’ article is to inform about the ways the millennials think about their families. It is clear that the generation of millennials has totally changed the world's culture. This generation has nothing to do with the previous ones. As a result, it is obvious that the generation of millennials is raising their kids in a totally different way. This theme may be considered as the main subject of the article. There are many factors that shape the way millennials raise their children. They are the characters of millennials, their wish to raise unique children, the spread of social networks and the desire to receive approval. Therefore, it is possible to state that one of the major reasons of writing this essay is to explain that at present time parenting has become more competitive than ever. This essay would surely help the parents understand that they shouldn't behave in a way as if they are participating in a race. They don't necessarily have to win and to become better than some other parents. They don't have to prove anything to other people. They should simply love their children and raise them with care, respect and attention.
The article starts with the depiction of modern family (Hayeses). So, Steinmetz describes a family with two children where father takes care of kids and mother earns for a living. From describing a family that breaks the common gender roles in the society, the author moves on the way modern parents raise their children as well as the key factors that influence it. First of all, Steinmetz mentions the major features of millennial parents. According to the author, millennials “still have faith in progress, equality and Google. And they continue to build vast archives of selfies” ( Steinmetz). Indeed, it is clear that the popularity of modern technologies has greatly shaped the ideas of modern families. The author emphasizes the fact that modern parents seem to compete with each other. This idea dominates the whole article and is constantly respected. Moreover, in order to prove her point, Steinmetz provides statistics. At this rate the author notes that site about parenting named BabyCenter released the annual report that is dedicated to the theme of modern moms. Thus, “it surveyed 2,700 U.S. mothers ages 18 to 44 and found that nearly 80% of millennial moms said it's important to be “the perfect mom”, compared with about 70% of moms in Generation X; 64% of moms across age groups said they believe parenting is more competitive today than it used to be” ( Steinmetz). From this statistics it becomes clear that modern mothers suffer from great pressure. They believe that they always should show the best performance so as to receive people's approval. More than ever they want to be perfect and they want to raise perfect children. Moreover, as Steinmetz notices, millennials constantly feel desire to compare their families with other families. Again, it supports the idea that modern families are eager to become better than others. They surely want to achieve excellence in parenting.
Furthermore, in order to support the idea that at present time parenting is more competitive than ever, the author shifts her attention to the way modern parents use social networks. So, in order to support her argument, Steinmetz mostly uses modern moms’ personal experiences. In order to sound more reliable, the writer uses many examples. She found out that most of modern moms use social networks in order to share information about their parenting and in order to see the way other families leave. In fact, many families admitted that they were really selective about the information they want to share. It is clear that they choose only that information which presents parents in a positive light. In fact, modern families do not feel shy about it. On the contrary, with the help of social networks they want to receive approval. That is the main reason why they use such platforms as Facebook, Twitter, various blogs and other so much. In fact, if millennials have a lot of other things to do, they always remain online. They often post numerous photos of babies and are happy when they receive a lot of likes. As one of the moms commented, she was happy to receive any Like, even from people she hardly knew. The woman stated that these Likes helped her to receive the needed support during the challenging time of being a parent. However, as Steinmetz claims, although social networks may bring parents positive emotions and support, quite often they suffer from critics. Modern mothers often receive comments where people tell them what they should do and how should they act. It can be truly devastating. All in all, all these examples show that the millennial generation constantly suffers from pressure. They suffer from overload of information and have many difficulties in choosing whom to listen to and whom to believe. It should be also noted that in order to prove her point and to sound more convincing and unbiased, Steinmetz includes statistics. Thus, according to the author, “in Time’s survey, 58% of millennial parents found the information available to them somewhat, very or extremely overwhelming – compared with 46% of X-ers and 43% of boomers” (Steinmetz). This statistics proves that millennials suffer from information overload. They live in a highly competitive world which requires them to be perfect. There is a great number of parenting books, magazines and blogs that tell millennials what they should do and how they should take care of their children. Such information overload makes parents confused. Thus, according to one mother, after reading all this information she realized that “I am constantly harassing, monitoring, and condemning myself for mistakes, because doing so comforts me”. These words prove the harsh truth about the millennial generation. They are not allowed to make mistakes. And if they do so, they would be judged. Probably, this is one of the major reasons why millennials often feel that they participate in a certain kind of parenting competition. Indeed, millennials put all their efforts in order to win this competition. All in all, Steinmetz covers many topics in her article. She discusses the way millennials raise their kids, the main problems they face and the solutions they choose. However, it is possible to say that the author puts the main attention to the way millennials view parenting. Steinmetz emphasizes the fact that millennials constantly feel pressure from the outside while raising their children. It allows the writer to draw a conclusion that modern parenting is truly competitive.
It is also worth considering that while reading the essay it becomes clear that the author is truly interested in the subject of her article. It is evident that she has made a profound work. She gathered all the needed information and statistical information in order to prove her point. The usage of statistics definitely makes the article sound more reliable, unbiased and impressive. It provides the readers with a lot of significant information to think through. It is possible to say that the author tried to be objective while presenting the information to the audience. At the same time Steinmetz’ interpretation of the information presented may be noticed as well. The author recognizes millennials as an entirely different generation. She views them as trophy-centered, optimistic and self-centered. According to Steinmetz, at present time the millennial generation has a new challenge. Their new task is to raise great kids. The author makes it clear that millennials leave in a highly competitive world and that parenting is much more competitive than it has ever been.
Considering the form and design of the article, it is possible to say that in order to make it more impressive and understandable, Steinmetz makes use of graphics. Thus, the author provides table in which she compares millennials’ and earlier generations’ views on parenting. Steinmetz includes the following points of comparison: the names the parents choose for their children, the amount of baby's pictures they share on social media, the way they treat marriage and other. The results of this statistics only prove that millennials leave in a world of competitiveness. Moreover, Steinmetz also includes a picture of a family in her article. On this picture a typical modern family is depicted. On it the couple and their baby are making selfie. Again, this picture proves that parenting styles have totally changed and that modern parents rely too much on information technology.
Works cited
Steinmetz, Katy “Help! My Parents are Millennials!”. WordPress at LPS. n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2016
