written by Noor
Humans have always been chasing after and trailing down the footprints of evolution and development in order to accomplish less complicated ways of living over the years and generations. This change takes place when two different people from two different generations are unable to comprehend each other as they find it kind of hard to understand the thoughts and standards of one another, and this is what brings us to the contrast between generations.
What a generation gap results in is; a quite big dissimilarity in opinions between one generation and another, regarding beliefs, politics and value, which explains why there is a quantum leap to lifestyles and an abrupt change in science and technology between a generation and another. That happens whilst confronting various different difficulties of social, ethical, and political, as well as, mental problems, to, somehow, live a trouble-free life eventually. And every generation has its own ways of solving issues, as trouble-solving differs from time to time. And this is pretty much how a generation gap is caused.
Most people in older generations were raised in foggy, not very enlightened environments in an untrue way. Education wasn’t as important, strong, and diverse as it is now. Talents and hobbies were not much appreciated and supported. Work wasn’t as easy; due to the lack of new inventions and technology, and that itself is unfair, because they had to live tougher lives. Speaking of, the lack of technology wasn’t all bad, because it taught people back then to be more independent, rustic, and nature-loving. However, younger generations are either raised by conscious and woke parents who were once raised in a world that was less modern and cultured or raised by parents who still haven’t woke up from the unawareness that they’ve been living in since they were kids, and those kind of parents are not all adequate to the society. Fortunately, hobbies and talents are supported now as there are companies and academies that are specialized for supporting the youth’s various abilities.
Younger generations are also recognized to be “glued” to technology and media, and that topic itself has its positive and negative points, it made research and education appear and be easier than ever, enhanced communication with others; which can improve the feeling of connection, and health apps were made to track chronic illnesses that also help a person communicate with a doctor for vital information. Nevertheless, it can give rise to behavioral and mental problems, sleep deprivation, as it can also diminish relationships and social skills. Evidently, the older generations have had it harder than us, but this generation is already facing issues as this raging wave of technological and Industrial advancement has also been the root to some environmental crisis, such as global warming along with many other issues. Teenagers from various different countries have done strikes and shared awareness. They want to save earth and keep it decent to the generations after.
Each generation looks at the other differently with all the stereotypes going on, resulting in big misunderstandings. For example; an older person wouldn’t look at a teen the same way they look at a person from their generation, the same goes with teenagers viewing older people. The topic of teenagers of the new age in general is pretty debatable. Older individuals often tend to have either one of those three point of views about the younger-aged individuals; the first one is that some of them think that the youth is too lazy and stuck-up in technology; which isn’t completely fallacious, but what is; is that they also view the technology as a threat to the young people instead of it being one of the reasons our society has evolved and will evolve, and I do see where they’re coming from, but if we teach the young about what is dangerous and what is not, then maybe they will not fall in the wrong. Besides, we will never learn and make headway if we keep on being afraid and never show the kids what the real world is like. They also have a certain picture in their heads of the nowadays teens that underestimates their power, creativity, and mind capacity. It is understanding if they think that we do foolish, questionable, and irresponsible acts, because it’s true, but isn’t this what being a teenager is all about? Isn’t this the common image of how teens act, no matter what generation we’re talking about? Because; you see, the teenage period of a human’s life is the period in which the brain learns and grows and gets nurtured with life lessons and information due to what a human has faced during these years of their life, which could possibly be anything about everything. The youth has proved itself to be incredibly creative and intelligent. The second category of older people are those who believe in the power of adolescent individuals as they do trust the idea that there’s hope for every generation. Meanwhile the third category are caught in the middle, as they seem to believe that the youth is capable of building a whole new city, but they still consider them oblivious and naïve, and that itself is not integrally erroneous.
“But how do teenagers view older people?” is the question. Teenaged people often view older people to be not up-to-date and think that the adults don’t anticipate in the youth. Some studies in Sweden have been done and according to them, the adolescents expect the adults to have a clearly negative view of the youth while at the same time they believed the adults to have a high opinion of themselves, which is unpleasant.
In this age; that is known to be “the age of information”, young or old, we all need to help support each other. Understanding and perceiving each other will only induce and encourage the good to come out of societies and to accentuate the positive, expanding the room of improvement for humanity. The old and the young need to connect; when younger and older connect, the intergenerational relationships built are a route to success in early life and a key to happiness and well-being in our later years, and so the endurable power that is still suppressed can blast in this world, It needs it and even we need it in order for us and the upcoming generations to live more fulfilling lives.