Please Say No
I just finished doing some staff training with a great group of leaders who serve in a non-profit organization. They work with young adult volunteers between 17 and 25 years old. During our discussion, one of the staff members told me that her roommate is an elementary school teacher who was also going through training as an educator. What she told
A Crash Course in Understanding Generation Y
I know, I know. One minute you think you’ve figure out this new generation of kids and the next, you feel you’re on a learning curve again. I get to spend a lot of time with university students these days and I’m amazed at one thing. The world they live in has produced a generational mindset—a shared paradigm—if you will. Need
Groom the Gift, Tame the Tude
I love working with students. I believe in this next generation of kids--the ones born between 1984 and 2002. Whatever you choose to call them, Millennials, Generation Y, the Digital Generation, their sheer size and demographic are destined to transform our culture, as they become adults. Social scientists believe they will be the largest generation in American history, somewhere between
Will They Grow Up?
I have been musing for some time about a demographic group sociologists say has expanded worldwide. The years between 18-26 and even beyond have become a distinct life-stage—a strange, transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood—in which young people stall for a few extra years, putting off adult responsibility. Some call them “Twixters.” Often, they’ll finish college, then move back
Culture, Influence and Michael Jackson
It's hard to believe Michael Jackson is gone. It's all we heard about this week. His songs are played on the radio, his biography is told on news programs and he's being emulated in karaoke bars around the world. I grew up with Michael Jackson. That is to say--I didn't know him but we are about the same age. I was