My Letter to My Predecessor Generations

Hello. I am a Computing Teacher from the United Kingdom. I studied HNC Software Development, HND Software Development, BSc Computer Networking and after a short break I began studying PGDE Computing Science Education in 2013 at the age of 23. I have been a fully qualified Computing Science teacher since 2014.

Since joining teaching I have developed a very interesting sense of the evolving collective and as such, I’ve been very interested lately in analysing the difference between generations in my own view. I consider this somewhat of a hobby and I thought I could contribute something to linking generations.

Generations don’t just end and begin (generations don’t just suddenly switch) however we tend to name generations in terms of their changing characteristics. As such, my dates below are roughly the dates of birth of each generation.

The Silent Generation (1920 - 1940) - The Silent Generation were affected by World War 2 and the great depression. They were called this because they focused on their work and tended not to engage in activism. This generation were often raised by GI Generation and were taught to conform to social norms and felt afraid to speak out.

Baby Boomers (1940 - 1960) - Baby Boomers were often parented The Silent Generation. They were called this because there was a sudden surge in pregnancy after World War 2. Boomers were much more involved in activism than The Silent Generation.

Generation X (1960 - 1980) - Generation X were often parented by Baby Boomers. They were not called this for any symbolic reason. Like their two predecessors they also had a real focus on work however more of them were career driven rather than just work driven. This (in my view) has led to the sudden unsustainable division of class which exists today throughout the world.

Dear My Predecessors,

I want to write a letter to you. My letter isn’t written to any one person, group of people or cohort. I want to speak to the person who identifies themselves as any of the generations listed above. I want to tell you how I feel about you. I believe that much of the turmoil in the world today is caused by the generation gap and our inability to communicate.

I am a Millennial. I was born in 1990. I consider myself a typical millennial.

Early stages of schooling was a very troubled time of my life. I was slower than other children. I now know this is probably because I started school aged four while studies show that even delaying this to the age of five can dramatically increase a child’s chances of success. Nevertheless, I progressed through primary school largely unscathed and along the way I encountered the internet. This was a huge deal for me, and I convinced my Generation X parents to get AOL so I could connect to my friends and chat with them after the amazing sound of the dial up handshake had finished. By the way Generation X; thank god we have mastered parental controls! Exposure to adult material at the age of eleven changes you more than you think. Not only this, but access at a young age to all sorts of chat engines made me feel that things were socially normal when in reality they were far from it. I enjoyed playing computer games from a very young age and spent much time playing them.

I went to secondary school at the age of eleven with a great interest in Computing. I grew up in a time when MySpace was everything you needed to arrange socially. While I missed the 4chan train, it clearly troubled our predecessors how connected we were. This threatened to change the landscape of power worldwide and our predecessors were not very willing to give it up. During my secondary years I developed a new social acceptance for obtaining free music and free videos and when I learned that all of the entertainment industry was licensed proprietary I was outraged! I grew up when YouTube was as free as the wind and Facebook was the bully of MySpace which you were reluctant to join but were kind of forced to. I grew up in a time when cannabis was socially acceptable and although I never did touch it I did go to many a party where my cohorts were indulging. I struggled to make it through all of your exams, you thought this was a good way to judge my abilities, it wasn’t. Summative assessment (although a key aspect of education) must be used in conjunction with a copious amount of formative assessment. I think you could have done a bit better in caring about my education but I’m willing to forgive you. What I’m struggling to forgive you over is the ridiculous debt you have imposed upon me to prove to you that I am worth. I shouldn’t need to pay you, to prove to you that I am good at what I do. I (like your typical millennial) am more empathetic towards others and I will do everything I can to correct the debt situation. With no career prospects and a ridiculous amount of politics to deal with at work; I’m currently off with depression.

I feel quite upset at you. You got all this wealth from your predecessors who passed it down to you, but you seem very unwilling to hand the baton down to us. You’re trying your best to keep hold of your power and wealth but it’s pointless.

I recently discovered cryptocurrency, and I can see that you’re almost powerless to stop it. I say “nearly” because I know that you will try everything in your power to stop it. You’ll probably prolong it, but you won’t stop it. We have outsmarted you.

I have a child now. He’s amazing. He’s everything I wanted our generation to be. He’s even more empathetic than me and is very kind in his young age. He cares for and about his cohorts. His generation didn’t know a time without internet and connectivity and they are growing up in a time where they see your wars being fought but can’t understand why humans would do that to one another, much like my generation but to a larger extent. It’s not just him, I’ve noticed it with all of my students. They carry these amazing traits which make them better than us, and better than you. It’s an evolutionary thing.

My students show great promise and I am proud of them. Where I would stick up for myself at school if my teacher was mistreating me but often had nobody to be as brave as me, they stand up to teachers en mass as one. If I am unfair to them, the whole class will release control from my hands. I love this trait. It develops a mutual respect while still being able to explain why we need certain rules. I’m really looking forward to these guys coming to the workplace. They care more for the common cause of their work than the hierarchy which defines it. If there’s a problem with how things are, they will fix it, you better believe it.

They are much more outspoken than us, so if you thought we were bad, brace yourself.

Finally, to those listed in the generations above who disagree with all that I have said; welcome to the Millennial cohort! Being a millennial is not being a particular age, it’s a frame of mind, and most of you on here are awake to this frame of mind and are in fact, millennials no matter when you were born!

Yours Faithfully,
Computing Teacher.

P.S. By the way, if you’re an unofficial millennial, you’re our vein to your real generation. Get them to calm the f.................