The greedy millennial now has a face.

On March 3, a story broke about a New Jersey teen who was suing her parents, demanding they pay for the remainder of her private high school tuition, her living expenses, her college tuition and her legal fees.

Eighteen-year-old Rachel Canning, the Veruca Salt-esque character in this national story, is now known as the worst millennial of us all, having taken “spoiled” and “entitled” to an extreme.

After an ongoing “he said, she said” case — Canning claimed her parents verbally abused her and her parents alleged she left because she didn’t like their rules — a judge formally dismissed the lawsuit on March 18, after Canning and her parents reached an agreement outside of the court. The teen returns home, maybe the family goes for counseling and the media hopefully leaves them alone.

The case should be closed, but it’s not.

Canning is a living, breathing stereotype. She’s the “proof” that our generation really is as bad as people say we are. Although some media sources have remained objective, some are clearly having fun portraying her as the “poor little rich girl.”

A March 18 article by the New York Daily News ran the headline, “Spoiled New Jersey teen Rachel Canning drops lawsuit against parents.” Other articles are a little more tactful, but still manage to hold an edge of contempt, where when you read between the lines, say: “we told you so.”

The extremity of the case could reinforce the stereotype of millennial entitlement because the details are so relatable to our everyday lives and interactions. Extremely watered-down, the main point of the lawsuit is actually a common theme among Gen Y: We want something from our parents and we get annoyed if we don’t get it. Gas money, spending money, college costs — things we can all admit to wanting our parents to pay for.

The difference between the majority of millennials and the accidental poster child for millennials, however, is that most of us don’t go so far as to sue our parents for what we think they owe us. The cliché “one bad apple can ruin the bunch” is a fitting description, because the perfect example of millennial entitlement is now real.

Recently, someone told me I worked a lot harder than other people in my generation, and that other people my age expected success to “just happen.” I’m not sure which millennials she’s worked with, but it was clear she thought they were exactly what society thinks of us. And now, there is a public figure cementing that stereotype. People like Canning further reinforce the notion that a hardworking, humble millennial is the outlier, rather than it being the other way around.

It’s up to us to make sure Canning does not become an accurate stereotype of our generation.

The national coverage the story received shows that everyone loves a villain who exemplifies what’s wrong with society. Stories of Gen Y doing awesome things don’t usually dominate central news sources for days as this story did. The only way to erase the negative precedents set by a select few is by being the opposite of the generalization.

The story of Rachel Canning suing her parents is no longer breaking news, but it should always serve as a reminder of what our generation strives not to be.

Kate Beckman is a freshman magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at kebeckma@syr.edu and followed on Twitter at @Kate_Beckman.

Published on March 25, 2014 at 1:30 am