Meet the Millennials Kameron Ball, Director Office of Educational Technology Mississippi Department of Education March 2, 2004

 Were born the same year the Challenger accident occurred  Have never known a day without HIV/AIDS  Think bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic  Have always had answering machines, cable tv, and remote controls  Have always had weather reports available 24/7 Students Today:  Know Ozzy Osborne as the star of a reality tv show  Know Alabama, Kansas, & Chicago as places, not bands.  Don’t remember Johnny Carson as the host of The Tonight Show

Who Are Today’s Students?  Sizable: They represent 36% of the total U.S. population. As of 2000, almost 100 million children and youth were between 0 – 24 years old.  Diverse: 31% are minorities, which is more diverse than the adult population. 1  Value-oriented: 96% of students report that doing well in school is important in their lives. 2  Influential: In 2003, teens spent $175 billion. 66% report influencing their parents purchases – large and small. 3

Grew Up with Technology  Have come of age along with the Internet  Information has been universally available and free to them  Community is a digital space of common interest, not just a shared physical place.  64% of teens say they know more about technology than their parents, 66% of parents agree. 4  These 12 th graders were in the 2 nd grade when the first school in MS connected every classroom to the Internet.

Millennials Rising  Written by Neil Howe and William Strauss “The first Millennials are entering college in September Starting very soon, parents and politicians will rivet public attention onto college students—just as they did with these same kids in every earlier age bracket, from the Babies-on-Board of the mid-‘80s, to the soccer-mommed kids of the early ’90, to the teens of the late ‘90s. Campuses will experience a new public spotlight on academic standards, student safety, wholesome community, vigorous political action—and national service.” 5

Endnotes 1.Keeter, Scott, et al. “The Civic and Political Health of the Nation: A Generational Portrait.” The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). 19 Sep Feb “The State of Our Nation’s Youth.” Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc Feb “Teens Spent $175 Billion in 2003.” Teenage Research Unlimited. 9 Jan Feb Lenhart, A., Rainie, L., and Lewis, O. “Teenage Life Online.” Pew Internet & American Life Project. 20 June Feb Howe, N. and Strauss, W. “Q & As from Howe and Strauss, Authors of Millennials Rising.” 23 Feb Bailey, John P. “Students in Today’s Schools.” presentation given at the State Educational Technology Director’s Association National Leadership Institute. Dec Feb