What’s my age again?

Written by Audrey Roy on 30/09/11

Photo by Happy on Flickr

The gap between youth and seniors continues to grow and is increasingly becoming an issue in our society. There is a lack of communication between the two generations which can lead to misunderstandings, stigmatization and discrimination. This is why in honour of the International Day of Older Persons, taking place on October 1st, we decided to discuss the issue of communication between two generations.

Often when I sit down with my grand-mother she’ll say something along the lines of: “you guys [when talking about youth] have no respect for traditions anymore, you forgot all your manners and do as you wish“. To which, I usually respond something like: “Come on grand-ma, you [older people] are not perfect either, you keep repeating the same thing and you never understand anything about how we live our life“! Although, this may seem exaggerated, I’m sure it’s pretty familiar to many of you.

Since we have already discussed ageism, stigmatization of youth and elder abuse in recent blogs, we are not going to touch on that today. Instead, we would rather talk about how youth and older adults can communicate with one another. The best way to understand each other is by talking, sharing opinions and point of views. Once open lines of discussions exist, you’ll be able to find more and more things that you might agree on. This will help decrease discrimination and stigmatization towards the other group.

A good way to start a conversation is to ask your grand-parents what it was like when they were teenagers, what their hobbies and favourite activities were. You might be surprised to find out how much you actually have in common! It might have been 50 years ago, but teenagers are teenagers! You will both get to appreciate each others’ reality and realize you are not much different from one another. A good conversation will most likely break down the walls between the two generations and create a healthier relationship.

Try it out and let us know how it goes! We’re curious to hear about it!

Links

DEAL.org – Ageism
DEAL.org – Stigmatization
DEAL.org – Elder Abuse
WHO – International Day of Older Persons