THE OBSERVATION BOOTH
OP / ED & PHOTOS BY ANDREA DIALECT
Older generations tend to stereotype recent generations of young people, questioning their intelligence and self-control, and calling them lazy, selfish, and uncaring.
Intergenerational relationships have been linked to improved health and well-being for both younger and older individuals. For older adults, engaging with younger generations can promote a sense of purpose and motivation, reduce feelings of depression and anxiety, and enhance cognitive function.
What do older people misunderstand about our generation?
Our generation is constantly portrayed as lazy and privileged; we are told that we aren’t accomplishing anything in life. Older generations misunderstand our generation as lazy when in reality we are educated, engaged, productive, and we will change the world for the better in the future. (Google)
PAGE JACKER
FEATURE: Evan Evering
“Regardless of age, anyone can probably attest to an older family member or acquaintance drilling into their ear, claiming that kids are disrespectful. Younger people, in general, often are, but why is that? I’ve been asked to share my perspective as a young adult to explain what I think disconnects younger people from older generations, and hopefully, upon request, I can give a good answer.
“My name is Evan, I’m 19 years old, and this issue obviously extends beyond me and my few experiences, but a large part of my opinion as to what makes younger people seem not to care for the same things as older people would be that they don’t.
“As a student and a young person, in my experience, a lot of the time older people seem occupied with things that younger people aren’t thinking about because it doesn’t come across to them, and younger people are too occupied with what they already have going on to focus on what the older people are trying to show them.
“Younger people being loud and obnoxious is something that follows any older person I know, and as a younger person, I’m a bit obnoxious at times, but maybe that negative connotation simply puts a divide between my generation and older ones by encouraging older people to discredit younger generations and claim that the things they’re focused on aren’t real enough or don’t ‘actually’ matter.
“With this in mind, despite younger people ironically thinking the same thing, those same people are just unable to let go of how people used to act when they were young, and that includes manners. Older people insist on respecting elders because they’re older, and that statement, along with many others like it, doesn’t carry the same weight for practice because it often seems like a set of arbitrary rules that aren’t explained because older people assume we can’t understand the language(s) they taught us.
“Strangely enough, on occasion, I’ve asked for reasoning as to why certain things are so revered, and usually, those questions are met with hostility because I should just be doing it, which in my opinion is strange and almost sad, considering that the things they think aren’t rude very often are.
“Those same manners don’t have the same effect because, in 40 years, people start acting differently, and older people refuse to acknowledge that, it seems. From a younger perspective, older people refuse to change for their now peers, because they assume correctness, and in all honesty, it makes it very difficult to listen when they try to help us because they usually have a very narrow grasp of their environment and the people they’re talking to.
“Most of the time, disrespectful and arrogant interactions I’ve had in public stem from an older person acting however they wanted because they felt they had the right to, and I’m almost certain that older person went home and didn’t hold themselves accountable for being insufferable to be around for those same reasons. I’ve seen older people scoff at someone’s pronouns the same way I scoff at older people expecting to be revered. I don’t care about someone being 50 and insisting they deserve respect just because they’re alive still. Everyone deserves that respect.
“On that same note, high schoolers being loud on the train in New York at 3 p.m. is universally annoying. Younger people being clouded by the futility of trying to teach an old dog new tricks likely also makes it harder to talk to them about the things they need to know, things that could help them succeed in ways that older people couldn’t. This isn’t something that only applies to the last 15 years, and I think that some people are just going to be a certain way, but to say it’s because someone is old or young that they’re disrespectful is a bit ridiculous anyway considering how many people you likely interact with on a daily basis that don’t represent that opinion.
“Regardless, within personal experience, oftentimes older people assume disrespect from a younger person because they fail to realize what respect looks like coming from them and refuse to learn. Those same people, in the same breath, would be disrespectful because they feel as if they’ve earned it, simply for being alive longer than their peers.”
DID YA KNOW THAT…
Social Development Across Adulthood
Although the quantity of social partners decreases with age, the quality of social networks remains stable or even increases with age. The number of very close, meaningful social partners remains stable with age.
Why should the younger people take care of older people?
They Give You An Insight Into Their Values.
They have weathered the many storms of life over the years, and you can learn valuable life lessons from them. As a result, you can pay attention to what they say and learn from their experiences.
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