Generation Y

I am the mother of three Gen. Y's. When they were babies we were living in a situation that involved a very small solar power system so they were free from technology until they were in primary school. They took to it like ducks to water! First they mastered the TV remote and the DVD player. They showed my parents how to operate their's (quite a few times). When they were deemed old enough they got mobile phones and they have been connected ever since. When we were in Bali my daughter made it a mission to find the nearest internet place so she could connect with her Australian social life and brag about being in Bali.
Watching homework being done is an interesting experience as several things are usually happening at the same time- sound system, msn, homework and mobile phone. How can they get things done in such apparent chaos? (Generation Jones here.)
In their friendships they are honest and very upfront about anything that upsets them. They have healthy and relaxed relationships with the opposite sex . One of my sons is very "blokey" but also enjoys discussing facets of human nature with me.
I have a class of baby Gen Y's and they are scary. No topic is sacred and they rip the scabs off other's sore feelings with a frightening detachment. At the tender age of 8 they are feisty and ready to take the world on and tell it off if it doesn't live up to their expectations. Watch out everyone!

BUSINESSWEEK
COVER STORY Generation YToday's teens--the biggest bulge since the boomers--may force marketers to toss their old tricksAt malls across America, a new generation is voting with its feet.At Towson Town Center, a mall outside of Baltimore, Laura Schaefer, a clerk at the Wavedancer surf-and-skateboard shop, is handling post-Christmas returns. Coming back: clothes that fit snugly and shoes unsuitable for skateboarding.
Schaefer, 19, understands. ''They say 'My mom and dad got me these','' she says.At the Steve Madden store in Roosevelt Mall on Long Island, N.Y., parents, clad in loafers and Nikes (NKE), are sitting quietly amid the pulsating music while their teenage daughters slip their feet into massive Steve Madden platform shoes. Many of the baby boomer-age parents accompanying these teens look confused. And why not? Things are different in this crowd.
Nike has found out the hard way that Gen Y is different. Although still hugely popular among teens, the brand has lost its grip on the market in recent years, according to Teenage Research Unlimited, a Northbrook (Ill.) market researcher. Nike's slick national ad campaigns, with their emphasis on image and celebrity, helped build the brand among boomers, but they have backfired with Gen Y. ''It doesn't matter to me that Michael Jordan has endorsed Nikes,'' says Ben Dukes, 13, of LaGrange Park, Ill.
Missteps such as Nike's disastrous attempt to sponsor Olympic snowboarders two years ago and allegations of inhumane overseas labor practices added to Gen Y's scorn. As Nike is discovering, success with this generation requires a new kind of advertising as well as a new kind of product. The huge image-building campaigns that led to boomer crazes in everything from designer vodka to sport-utility vehicles are less effective with Gen Y.
''The old-style advertising that works very well with boomers, ads that push a slogan and an image and a feeling, the younger consumer is not going to go for,'' says James R. Palczynski, retail analyst for Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. and author of YouthQuake, a study of youth consumer trends.
Instead, Gen Yers respond to humor, irony, and the (apparently) unvarnished truth. Sprite has scored with ads that parody celebrity endorsers and carry the tagline ''Image is nothing. Obey your thirst.'' J.C. Penney & Co.'s (JCP) hugely successful Arizona Jeans brand has a new campaign showing teens mocking ads that attempt to speak their language. The tagline? ''Just show me the jeans.". .