CNN notes that 2011 marks the rise of the Millenial generation and asked what will they bring to the cultural table:
History will mark 2011 as the year the baby boomer generation, which has so dominated American politics and society, first became eligible for retirement. But little is known about the new guard of American leaders, the Millennial generation, born between 1980 and 2005. There are more of them than baby boomers and, at numbers three times the size, demographically dwarf Generation X.
They have already made their power felt in everything from the Facebook phenomenon to the unlikely rise of Barack Obama to the presidency. And they are only now entering the scene. But what comes next?
To answer this question, the Brookings Institution organized a project in which we surveyed more than 1,000 young Americans — student leaders, kids attending young leader conferences, policy internships. These are kids seen by their peers as leaders and who want to become presidents, legislators, generals, journalists and diplomats.
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Some of the findings were to be expected — they text and tweet like crazy, an average of about 79 times a day; they admire Apple and Google; they don’t think terrorism will end in their lifetime. But many other outcomes ran directly counter to common preconceptions and media reports about today’s young people:
— They don’t get their news from blogs or comedy shows…. their first choice is a news organization website. That is followed by cable news shows.
— Mom and dad, not Puffy or Pat Robertson, matter most to their politics. Some 60% cite parents as the influence on their own politics. …
— Isolationism, not globalism, is winning out. Fifty-eight percent of the young leaders think that America is “too involved” in global affairs and should instead focus more on issues at home. …
— China scares them. When asked to name any countries that they think will present the biggest problems for the U.S. over the next 10 to 20 years, China was listed the second most frequently, behind only Iran and ahead of nations such as North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and Russia. …
— They don’t admire what the TV channel TLC, which runs Sarah Palin’s reality show, wants you to think. When asked to name a figure who personifies the type of leadership needed for the 21st century, only 9 out the 1,057 young leaders, of whom about a third were young Republicans, identified Palin.
What will this mean for the church?