Rating: 
Summary: Reviewer's reactions prove there's been a generational shift
Review: I give this book a very high rating, not because I believe everything in it, but because the authors (unlike most 'Gen Y' marketers) recognize a change. And there has been a huge change, which anyone who lived through the 60s and 70s can see. True, lots of kids are irritated with the restrictions placed on them. But, confronted with similar restrictions in the 60s, we bombed buildings. It's the response that's significant.Some reviewers who identify themselves as Millennials are very angry about this book. To be blunt, 10 years ago no kid would have given a second thought about its contents. If nothing else, Millennials care what people think about them, and that is massive change. Second: Any young person who thinks they're radical or rebelling should check out a book like David Frum's How We Got Here: The 1970s. Current generations can't begin to match the radical climate of that time. Third: It's true that the stats in the book are biased, and reflect the upper-middle class. But this is exactly what happened in the 1960s -- the revolt started with wealthy college students at Ivy League schools and spread to the rest of society over the next 20 years. Fourth: Howe & Strauss do mention the recent rise in drug use, in particular pot. Their actual claim is that if pot use becomes accepted, it will fill the same role that alcohol did for earlier generations -- just check out a film from the 50s and see them getting smashed at every turn. Not a biggie. Finally, I should note that this book is very well written. Part of the anger in reviews comes from this source. It gets people excited. If it were a dry statistics text it wouldn't arouse such ire.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't question authority?
Review: I have always been proud of our ability to question authority as one of the strong points of my generation. Then along comes a book that undermines this strong point and instead tries to create a view of my generation to fit the way adults would like to see us, rather than the way we are. Rather than as an intelligent generation of youth fighting against an unfair and hypocritical system, "Millennials Rising" endeavours to convince everyone that my generation is a bunch of military-like clones in uniform that has no understanding of what freedom means, will obey an authority figure or leader no matter how wrong they are, and will try to pressure other kids into being "well-behaved", solid citizens instead of respecting the choices they make in conduct, lifestyle and dress. They say we will turn other kids in if we find them breaking a rule (whatever the school or state rules happen to be). I don't want to THINK about what that reminds me of. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our generation is savvy, mindful and understanding of the world, a multitude of emerging creators, artists, musicians, reformers, improvers and leaders, and one that understands that just because your school or parents or whoever makes a rule, that doesn't mean it's right. I see this quality, every day, in almost all of my classmates. The system is so broken that we don't even try to comply to it, and the disregard for stuffy adults and their iron-tight laws is nothing covert . . . it's so open, as something that we're proud of, that there's no way anyone could miss it. Although William Strauss and Neil Howe say they are proud of our generation, the only thing the book mentions any pride in is a mere phantastic chimera of how they WANT us to be...as soldiers and order-followers. Why don't they commend us instead for what we ARE, the qualities we have that make our generation the one that will REALLY improve the world?
Rating:
Summary: So not true
Review: Everything in here is so untrue. The book seems to be distorting everything to make it sound like our generation is going to be just like the G.I. Generation! The G.I. Generation is the one that died for their country in World War II, wore grey flannel suits, lived in cookie-cutter houses during the 50s, blacklisted Communists and non-Communists with McCarthyism and freaked out at the counterculture in the 60s. They say we're supposed to be just like that generation, and that that will make us "great" just like them. Not only is there nothing to be happy about in a generation that shuns rights and diversity like the G.I. Generation, but the fact is that teens AREN'T like that. The worst part is that the book figures that just because adults give us curfews and rules and want to structure our entire lives, we're going to obey them and turn out obedient and fascist, willing to do whatever authority tells us. This only makes teens MORE rebellious, and more wanting to break any rules. The book says that now the world is chaotic and filled with demons and there's nothing left for teens to rebel against, unlike with 60s or 80s teens, so they don't rebel ... but then it keeps talking about all the rules and "protection" that have become more oppressive than ever before (a whole chapter is entitled "Zero Tolerance" in fact), and adults trying to conform us to their mold and forcing their onorously strict rules on us. This makes life Hell on Earth for just about any teen, and insights us to rebel, but the book just said that teens have nothing to rebel against?!? What do you think you were just writing about? This book is so full of garbage. We both go to high school and it's completely obvious to us, as well as everyone here, that teens like to distance themselves from adults, by being as unlike them as possible, and rebel against authority. In writing _Millennials Rising_, the authors throw in stories and quotes about teenagers who think the world is too wild and there's nothing to rebel against left, but what about all the teenagers who are making a name for themselves by challenging the establishment? .... We can't BELIEVE that there was a teacher mentioned in this book who said his journalism students all agreed with the Supreme Court in that teens' speech can be repressed, and don't write any more articles that criticize government or school. In almost every issue we found at least two articles or letters to the editor writing about how cruel and fascist the school's policies were, and there are always editorials that flame the government and politicians. Come on, America has the highest imprisonment rate in the world, they're running a drug war that has consistently proven to fail and has put millions of people in jail just for smoking marijuana, the government and police and parents become tighter and tighter on kids, they're spending billions on weapons of destruction and homelessness and poverty within America haven't gone down a bit, and this book expects teens to become more TRUSTING of the government?! How stupid are we expected to be? .... Oh, and the two authors aren't going to like this either. 15% of us have been to a rave. If the rave isn't supposed to be the symbol of our generation, what is? Beepers? Nose rings? They found in statistics class that 28% of the boys at our school have at least one piercing, and it's even higher among seniors.... Both of us are enraged with the way the book says we think there aren't ENOUGH rules and restrictions in this world. This book keeps saying that kids our age are is so fond of authority and rules and keeps pounding that assertion in so hard throughout the text that it nauseated us. How come there aren't ANY quotes in this book from rebellious teens -- and we all know the world is full of them? Or even any quotes from adults who said it was the norm for teens to be rebellious? Neither of us liked the way the book kept trying to sound informed on teen fashion either, and the book kept quoting people who were clueless about the teen fad scene. It's sad. Don't listen to a book like this go on about teenagers based on a theory of how we're supposed to be, go look at and talk with some actual kids and it will become clear to you what we're really like....
Rating:
Summary: So not true
Review: Everything in here is so untrue. The book seems to be distorting everything to make it sound like our generation is going to be just like the G.I. Generation! The dumbest part is that the book figures that just because adults give us curfews and rules and want to structure our entire lives, we're going to obey them and turn out obedient and fascist, willing to do whatever authority tells us. This only makes teens MORE rebellious, and more wanting to break any rules. The book says that now the world is chaotic and filled with demons and there's nothing left for teens to rebel against, unlike with 60s or 80s teens, so they don't rebel ... but then it keeps talking about all the rules and "protection" that have become more oppressive than ever before (a whole chapter is entitled "Zero Tolerance" in fact), and adults trying to conform us to their mold and forcing their onorously strict rules on us. This makes life Hell on Earth for just about any teen, and insights us to rebel, but the book just said that teens have nothing to rebel against?!? What do you think you were just writing about? This book is so full of dumploads. We both go to high school and it's completely obvious to us, as well as everyone here, that teens like to distance themselves from adults, by being as unlike them as possible, and rebel against authority. In writing _Millennials Rising_, the authors throw in stories and quotes about teenagers who think the world is too wild and there's nothing to rebel against left, but what about all the teenagers who are making a name for themselves by challenging the establishment? Think about the curfew protests that they show on MTV. In November last year our school newspaper ran an article about curfews. They polled the student body and the article said 77% agreed curfews were wrong. More than three quarters! Isn't it pretty obvious what's really going on with teenagers? We also collected up some other past issues and found some surveys that show what's really going on. There was a big feature in March of 2000 about drug use on campus, and it showed that 70.6% of the students do at least one drug (including alcohol and smoking). It also said that 69% support general legalization of marijuana. Trust in authority? We found an issue that dealt with teen/police relations and 28% of the kids reported frequent conflict with police, another 39% reported some conflict. 55% have a lot of conflict with their parents. In the September of 1999 issue they wrote about adult censorship of the school paper, and 82% of students opposed censorship (excluding lible). We don't BELIEVE that there was a teacher mentioned in this book who said his journalism students all agreed with the Supreme Court in that teens' speech can be repressed, and don't write any more articles that criticize government or school. In almost every issue we found at least two articles or letters to the editor writing about how cruel and fascist the school's policies were, and there are always editorials that flame the government and politicians. Come on, America has the highest imprisonment rate in the world, they're running a drug war that has consistently proven to fail and has put millions of people in jail just for smoking marijuana, the government and police and parents become tighter and tighter on kids, they're spending billions on weapons of destruction and homelessness and poverty within America haven't gone down a bit, and they expect teens to become more TRUSTING of the government?! How stupid do they expect us to be? The school newspaper also asked students whether the students were being disciplined enough, and only 21% said there was "not enough" discipline at school, compared to 61% who said there was "too much" discipline! Oh, and the two authors aren't going to like this either. 15% of us have been to a rave. If the rave isn't supposed to be the symbol of our generation, what is? Beepers? Nose rings? They found in statistics class that 28% of the boys at our school have at least one piercing, and it's even higher among seniors. This book is about as full of complete lies about Millennial Generation of teens as you can get. Both of us are enraged with the way the book says we think there aren't ENOUGH rules and restrictions in this world. This book keeps says that kids our age are is so fond of authority and rules and keeps pounding that assertion in so hard throughout the text that it nauseated us. Neither of us liked the way the book kept trying to sound informed on teen fashion either, and the book kept quoting people who were clueless about the teen fad scene. It's sad. Don't listen to a book like this go on about teenagers based on a theory of how we're supposed to be, go look at and talk with some actual kids and it will become clear to you whatwe're really like.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, credit where credit is due!
Review: I am a 17 year old Junior in High School and I have been hearing since I was old enough to comprehend words that my generation were a bunch of slackers who didnt care about their country or others, just themselves. I knew this to be a lie but we have had no voice...until now. Finally a book, "Millennials Rising" proves all those rumors to be false. I believe myself to be one of the most patriotic people in the US despite my age. I am willing to make whatever sacrifice is neccessary to protect the freedom that we have come to enjoy and this great nation of ours. All in all, I'd have to say that I really enjoyed the book, because it finally gives credit where credit is due...to my generation.
Rating:
Summary: When was the last time they talked to someone under 20?
Review: In one section they embrace Zero-tolerance policies and try to imply that young people all over endorse this sort of non sense. Just reading that section was enought to convince me to put the book down immediately and never look back, which is why I can't give full review. "The Scapegoat Generation"(1996) and "Framing Youth" (1999)-Both Mike Males, are much better books to read when it comes to teenagers.
Rating:
Summary: They talk about nothing but good little middle-class kids
Review: Strauss and Howe have put together another myopic attempt at describing youth culture and changes. They describe a very, middle-class culture and attitudes. Look at all the quotes from middle-class white kids with their attitudes. Then they give a token appreciation to the minority youth of America, who are largely living in poverty, by saying that they are the big forerunners of all the changes. Here all the inner-city high schoolers haven't changed from Generation X in the last five years, and there's no way anyone around here is as wholesome and white-middle-class looking as the authors like to talk about. This is the inner-city, and the youth in here are still TOUGH. They aren't changed by uniforms either, since I've never seen any kids at the high schools wearing uniforms. Don't be telling me what Latino and Black kids are supposed to be like, being more into discipline and "family values" and all those other ideas Strauss and Howe keep celebrating. They took some surveys and only gave them out to kids in their own government bedroom community near their middle-class town. No wonder. They probably see their own decent middle-class kids going happily to school, and want to write whole books like this just to praise them.
Rating:
Summary: Too bad to be true
Review: Nowhere in my review did I say I was disgusted at any of the teen trends that are out there. I pointed out that few high school students saluted the flag; I did not say I was disgusted with it or use any words that would indicate disgust. I'm actually glad that teens aren't robotically standing up to the pledge of allegiance, because the U.S. is a terrible pit of fascism burning with unfair laws and a complete corrupt "democratic" process, with a government that completely disrespects our generation, and I wouldn't want to see teens standing up in support of and deference to a country like that. My anger and disgust was directed towards how the authors claimed that we were like that. I'm angry because Strauss and Howe clearly show a lack of insight into what our generation is thinking, and make us sound like a bunch of obedient, authority-loving, uncreative, freedom-hating kids who like restrictions placed on us and want to restrict other people's freedom of choice in sex, drugs or whether or not to go to war. You'll notice that in the title of my review I said this book was "an insult to teens". How many teens out there would like to be told that they and their generation were supposed to be like THAT? Nor have I complained about teens not being "disciplined". I do point out the diversity of today's market, but I'm simply doing so matter-of-factly to point out that the authors are off. I don't see anything wrong with not being political in this day and age. It is completely untrue that our generation trusts parents and authority, but I never condemn it - if anything, I make it clear that I'm glad. I talk about rising teen drug use (which the authors have NOT accurately predicted) and the overwhelming support among teens for legalization of marijuana. I support legalization of marijuana. But I hate this book because it ignores these facts, it doesn't recognize the wonderful reality that the youth of today are. I pointed out the popularity of XTC, but I'd rather have a world in which lots of teens were doing drugs than the current system in which drugs are illegal. And it's CERTAINLY better than a world in which most teens support the illegality of drugs, which is what the authors of this book expect us to be like. I don't sense any negative attitudes and pessimistic perception towards the teen reality in other review's either. Note that one review talked in depth about how unfair school rules and administration policies were, and how that's what teens were rebelling against, while Strauss and Howe failed to recognize that rebellion. It also remarked that the book made us look like fascists. The complaints all point to the fact that the authors do not recognize the good points in teen culture, not that teens themselves are not acting as they should. I hardly believe that most teens SHOULD stand up to the pledge or act obedient and "disciplined", especially when authority is as unfair and restrictive as it is now, and most people my age would agree. None of these "individualistic" trends bother me. The problem with this book is not that its message, predictions and characterization of youth are too good to be true, but that they offer a horrifying description of what teens today are like - and, thankfully, that is not in actuality the case. Even worse than too good to be true, I think the claims of _Millennials Rising_ are what one might call "too bad to be true".
Rating:
Summary: The Millennial Generation is a reality
Review: The Millennial Generation exists. I notice that most of the criticism of the book comes from youth, members of the Millennial generation. Ironically, they exhibit disgust at students not saluting the flag, not acting disciplined, not acting the way they SHOULD. This shift in perception proves the authors point -- 10 years ago, very few students exhibited any kind of disgusted about the lack of discipline and teamwork in their peers. While the trends themselves might have worsened in some ways, the shift in PERCEPTION proves the authors point -- the youth of today feel negatively towards the individualistic trends of the past 40 years. Strauss and Howe are visionaries. In 1991, they predicted quite accurately how the decade would unfold. Their characterization of Millennials was not wholly positive. They recognize that the group-oriented mentality of the Millennial generation can be misused by the wrong kind of leaders just as profoundly as those talents can be used for good. They also acknowledge that at some point in the future that the culture will grow tired of teamwork and cooperation, just as they did with the G.I. culture of the 1950s. But for now -- after nearly 40 years of institutional and collective drift, the change is welcome. The welcome nature of this change is the reason the authors characterize the change as a good thing -- because the change is necessary for the long-term stability of our civilization. Extremes, such as the extreme individualism and frenzied culture that we have been experiencing for some time, must always be tempered. The numbers alone should prove the author's points. SAT scores. Teen pregnancy. Youth Crime. Drug usage. For those who can remember what college campuses and high schools were like in the 1980s, visit one today. While those inhabiting those environments may not notice a change, those who are conscious of the contrast between the two eras will notice the difference. Times are changing and the Millennial generation is a very, very, very real phenomenon.
Rating:
Summary: A piece of junk and an insult to teens
Review: Never have I seen a book on my generation that was so inaccurate and so incompetently argued and put together. I am 16 and I know from my experience every day that these two authors haven't gotten anything right. Because of historical cycles, they make outrageous claims about my age group and continue to assert that they're right on. They say things like, "The era of 'pushing the edge' and splintery niche-marketing is nearly over." How does it get more nichified than today's market? Do the authors even realize that there are dozens of categories for music and hundreds of subcategories and combinations out there (punk-rap, alt-ska, Latin diva rock, adult blues-ska...)? There are about fifty brands of everything in the market and now everything from cars to drinks is linked with a teen lifestyle (raver, skater, rap, hip-hop & b-boys/girls, etc.) Just look at all the ads that are geared towards snowboarders alone. Absolutely no signs of it abating. Even the clothing industry comes in hundreds of brand names, probably ever more than the Boomers ever knew growing up. Just because there are groups of kids who hang out together and all wear certain brands doesn't mean we're going to be a generation of hopeless conformists. Did the authors think it wasn't that way in the 80s? The GAP commercials don't mean that we're really all going to dress like that. It's just a cute marketing technique, using songs we like to advertise an item. If the commercial is for the GAP, they're not going to include teens wearing other brands. All the chapters are off-base with clothes and music. If you look at any high school you can see twenty different styles and more different names than you can count. There are a lot of different styles of necklaces from shells to hemp to glittered scrunchies to metal chains, ghetto styles from the inner-city, and stores like Hot Topic that market exclusively to gothic teens. And baggy clothes are still in. Likewise with pop music. They mention Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, Cleopatra, Christina Aguilera, etc. but these bands are marketed to younger kids; there aren't many people over 15 who listen to them. When these authors write about what our generation is like and what kind of time we're living in, they put far too much emphasis on the extremes of pop culture - boy bands on one hand, gangsta' rap and shockers like Eminem and KoRn on the other, without mentioning a lot of the mainstream bands at all. They have little to no talk about Vertical Horizon, BNL, Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Alanis, Matchbox 20, Jewel, etc. This is what more teens are into. We are also not a generation that focuses on politics or America. Hardly anyone at my school went to get registered to vote when they turned 18, and no one shows any interest in getting to vote. Look at how low youth voting still is in elections. And just look at students in a classroom during the pledge of allegiance: hardly anyone stands up to say the pledge of allegiance anymore - when the teachers are holding it at all. The authors think we've changed and now are interested in "trusting" authority and our parents. If that isn't b.s., I don't know what is. They call us "rule-followers" because of teenage crime and abortion and so on falling. It was Xers who were responsible for reversing these trends, after the BOOMers bought them up, so that doesn't mean that teens now are the ones becoming more conservative and obedient. Those changes came with Generation X not Y, and look at how famous Generation X is for its distrust in authority and the system. The authors don't call Xers rule-following little team-players. Where does all this stuff about "teams" and "teamwork" come from? We occasionally have group projects in various classes and our school has community service, but the teachers don't go through the curriculum talking about being a team all the time. And look at all the drug use, the rising popularity of XTC, etc. and all the teen support for marijuana legalization. The authors don't explain why teen drug use isn't falling. They just make any claims they want. They put in quotes about our generation that are completely implausible just because it makes it sound like people agree with their theory on teens. Are we really supposed to believe that 50% of this guy's classmates are involved in ROTC? Whatever it is they're saying about teens, the authors keep confusing the present and future tense, and confusing the reader with it. They keep vaselating between whether "Millennials", as they call them, WILL stand in line, suck up to authority, love their country, and reject Xer culture, and whether they ARE doing it right now. I can't even tell with their predictions whether they're describing the future or the present, since they put the same things in their list of predictions that they say are occuring right now. Then for teens who act, dress and think like Xers, the book claims they're going to change later. These guys come up with a million weak excuses to explain why so many teens aren't the way they think we should be. They try to find something that sounds teamwork related or "Hero" type about anything teen-oriented. They pick out quotes from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" when they can, even trying to find bits and pieces out of THAT show when they're claiming that today's teens are supposed to be a new "Greatest" or "Hero" generation. Buffy is one of the last characters I thought they would consider "Millennial". The authors' arguments throughout the book are mindblowingly weak and contrived. What an inept attempt at writing about our generation. It seems they will try anything to convince people that teens are little Scouts. I only hope people will use some rational thinking and observation of their own to realize that we're not.
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