Not long ago I saw a father and son at a coffee shop. The child was busy playing on a tablet and the father wore a t-shirt that read: “Hug a Millennial Today.” The shirt made me smile because Millennials—like myself—get a lot of bad press these days, with critics writing us off as a lazy, self-absorbed generation that can’t find our way out of mom and dad’s basement. What these detractors miss or ignore, however, is that the fifty-four million Americans who belong to this group not only have myriad redeeming qualities, but have also reinvented a number of our country’s institutions—such as the workplace—for the better. And as more of us have children, we’re primed to do the same for education.
Millennials now make up one-third of the American workforce, and surveys have shown that this generation values perks like flexible scheduling, telecommuting, and paid volunteer days at their jobs. Because of this, companies are responding by redesigning benefits packages to attract the best prospects. In other words, unlike previous generations that entered the adult world and blended in, Millennials are shifting older co-workers’ attitudes towards their own. This is probably because even Baby Boomers can see that, in many cases, pajama-clad employees working from home are happier and more productive. As businesses learn what works, they adjust their practices because they value the productivity.
Likewise, Millennials are already showing signs that they’ll demand similar innovations and freedoms in their children’s education.
I’ll use my own family as an example—even though at thirty-four years old, I’m about as old a Millennial as you’ll find. My wife and I homeschool our children, in large part because of the flexibility it affords. Our kids take French lessons at the local Alliance Francaise. They’re studying Latin with a monkey via DVD. They participate in science co-ops with other kids and help out in the garden. We use online resources for math and build things together to apply concepts to something practical. The entire family reads together regularly. And what we do changes depending on how successful we think things are going. My wife and I are always on the look out for innovative ways to help our kids learn. In this way, we’re typical of our generation.
I’m not predicting that Millennials will homeschool at higher levels than other generations. But I do think that as they have children, Millennials are going to demand a shift in the education system as they have in the business world. Young families will realize that charter schools are providing the innovative, twenty-first century education they want. Millennial parents thinking about school options for the first time will be excited about tools like education savings accounts and vouchers because they’ll want a tailored approach to their kids’ education—just as they’ve sought out personalized careers.
Indeed, one might even say that the education reform movement is itself a Millennial, just over a quarter century old. And as members of the generation begin to pay attention to the new options that have developed over that time, they’ll come to increasingly embrace education reform—and choice, in particular.
Recent polling supports my optimism. In a survey by the American Federation for Children released this month, Millennial support for school choice was higher than other generations with 75 percent responding that they support the issue.
And there’s every reason to expect similar support for more tech-based reforms, like micro-schooling that makes personalized education more accessible. This is a generation of moms and dads who use smart phone apps to find their first mortgages and monitor their newborns’ heart rate. They’re not sticking with the status quo.
So let’s rally around the cry: Help Millennials, help education reform! Even if you don’t believe the new presidential administration will make American education great again, opt for a “Hug a Millennial Today” t-shirt in lieu of that red hat. Then get ready for a twenty-first century school system that looks a lot like a dad, a child, and a tablet.
The views expressed herein represent the opinions of the author and not necessarily the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
