Being an independent adult 101

We often hear stereotypes related to the generation Y like they are treated like kings, they are spoiled kids that never grow up, that they stay at their parent’s home until 30 years old, etc. Those stereotypes blame young people for not being independent adult. But what describe an independent adult? What are the skills needed for this title? How and where do we get them?

First of all, let’s respond to the first question: what are the skills needed to be an independent adult? I split those skills in four groups: the academic knowledge, the living abilities, the social abilities and the healthy habits. The first category is mainly the general knowledge. To be an independent adult, a person needs to know one thing or two. I think that the most someone knows the best it is. Being aware of the world around is essential. Knowledge in history makes a person understand where he or she comes from, knowledge in politics and economics makes a person understand how the world works and knowledge in science makes a person understand how the nature around works. The second group contains all basic abilities needed in a home. It is impossible to live independently without knowing how to cook, to clean, to do the laundry and to manage money. If someone has not mastered those skills, someone will have to do it for him or her. The third group is social abilities. The human is a sociable animal. He lives in society, so it is vital to know how to act in society.  For example, making a good impression is useful for a job or knowing how to make friends prevents from living a lonely life. The fourth and last category is the healthy habits. It includes a good balance between the work, the social life and the family life, eating healthy food, practicing physical activities and knowing how to relax. It is good to be clever and to know how to manage a home and a relationship, but, if the lifestyle is unhealthy, there is no quality of life. It is impossible to enjoy fully the independent life.

Second of all, let’s review all the groups of skills, but now responding to the questions how and where. First, we can get academic knowledge in school, obviously. Even if some people think that school is useless, it is not. However, we can get it elsewhere like in books, on the Internet, at TV, from someone, etc. School has not the knowledge monopoly. We can get this skill by listening to people, to the world around or by researching, being curious. Second, we only can get living abilities by practicing. It is like learning how to pedal. We just have to try it. It is possible to try to learn by watching someone, but seriously no one can get Ricardo’s talent by only watching his TV show. We cannot learn those skills in school, so we just have to learn on the job. Third, we can get social abilities in school. It is a great environment for this purpose because there are plenty of people at the same place each day. It is easier to make lasting relationships this way. We can learn it at home too. Parents can teach good social values like respect and politeness. We get those skills by trails and errors. With experience and supervision we can become relatively accomplished social persons. Fourth, we usually learn health habits at home. It is mostly the parents that influence children on this matter. After childhood, we can decide to continue those habits or to change them based on what we now believe in. Friends, society and awareness campaign can influence us too. We can learn those skills by repeating again and again healthy actions until they become habits.

To conclude, to be an independent adult we need skills from four categories: the academic knowledge, the living abilities, the social abilities and the healthy habits. I think it is impossible to master them all. Nobody is perfect. Each person has his or her flaws.  For some, it is the healthy part or others it is the living abilities. We just have to do our best to survive in our wild world. 

Millennials and volunteering

After the Second World War, men were getting back home. As a result, the birthrate was pretty high until 1965 (The Canadian Encyclopedia, n.d.). Those people who were born in that time period are called the baby-boomer generation (The Canadian Encyclopedia, n.d.).  Each time period has its specific generation. People who are born between 1980 and 1995 are called the millennial generation (CBS, February 11, 2009). There are a lot of prejudices related to this generation. One of them is that the millennials are self-centered, so they do not get involved in their community.

First, I do not think that there is a lack of participation in community service for the millennials. In fact, Jean Twenge, a psychology professor, states that ‘’youth volunteerism has actually risen in the last decade’’ (Ray Williams, June 6, 2010). Two main reasons could explain this situation. First of all, millennials were raised with the idea that a person can do whatever he or she wants. It may have made spoiled people, but those people have big dreams. They want to have a positive impact in their world. Community service is a good start. Second of all, more and more people attend university. On the work market, if a person wants to be noticed, he or she has to have something more than a piece of paper. Employers search for candidates with various experiences. It is the same thing for the admission in universities. In the United States, for example, the community service is essential to get to the most prestigious schools. More close to us, there are programs, like the international program at Joseph-Harmas Leclerc in Granby and at Jean-Jacques Bertrand in Farnham, that include hours of community service. It goes the other way around too. There are a lot of schools. To attract the greatest students, schools have to offer other things than good classes. Students will check what the other opportunities are. Is there international exchange? Are there possibilities of social involvement?

Second, I think that volunteering is better than service learning. Volunteer Canada describes volunteering as ‘’people [who] work to improve the lives of their neighbours and, in return, enhance their own’’ (Kaylan C. Schwarz, Fall 2013).  On the other hand, service learning provides volunteering in addition of preparatory orientation, classroom activities and structured reflection (Kaylan C. Schwarz, Fall 2013). I prefer volunteering for two reasons. First of all, the work load of service learning is demoralizing. Students will not be motivated to do the volunteering if there is some other heavy work to do. They will not understand the essence of community service which is helping not getting a good mark. Second of all, students are able to think by themselves. There is no need of someone else to ask them questions about their experience and their learning. If the volunteering has a positive or negative outcome the student will notice it by himself. There is no need for a rigid framework.

Third, I think that schools should not force students to do volunteering, but should encourage it. Volunteering has positive impacts on the communities and on students too.  Community involvement gives skills, knowledge and attitudes that are needed to be a good citizen (Kaylan C. Schwarz, Fall 2013). It gives people a sense of cooperation, an open-mind. The effects are not the same if volunteering is mandatory. When someone is forced to do something, he or she is reticent even before starting. The person will do it because he or she has to do it, but will not be motivated and will not learn anything. Schwarz declares that mandatory community involvement ‘’cannot guarantee equal access to meaningful community involvement placements’’ (Kaylan C. Schwarz, Fall 2013). What schools can do is encouraging volunteering. They can offer an optional volunteering course or give extra credits. There are other ways to motivate young people to be involved in their community.

To conclude, I think that millennials do get involved in their community, that volunteering is better than service learning and that schools should not force students to volunteer. The boomers are complaining about the generation millennial, but who raised them? Anyway, it is not a competition for the best generation. Each generation has their qualities and faults.