Perspectives: A Generational Divide

It’s up to us to break generational norms. When they say, “It runs in the family”, you tell them “this is where it runs out”.

– Anon

I’m part of what some would call Generation Z.

To some it is a generation of misguided, unemployed, useless know-it-alls but to others it means revolution, tolerance, acceptance and inclusivity on a scale yet to be understood.

As biased as it may seem, I agree slightly more with the latter.

However, as much as some people won’t want to admit it today, my generation has done so much good in a world that wasn’t wholly great to begin with. So now we have to work with what we’ve got:

• A climate emergency
• Unaffordable housing
• Pretty awful world leadership
• Forest fires
• Oceanic Pollution
• Stereotyping an entire generation of individuals
• Fast fashion
• Racial and gender and income inequality

…the list could go on.

Now I’m not saying that we’re the generation to fix everything, because from what I can gather from that wondrous place called ‘the internet’ is that Gen Z kids can go from protesting human rights and calling out racism to spending a week in bed watching Youtube.

Despite this, change never occurred by simply continuing with the norms of life and ignoring the hard tasks we have yet to handle. Or being ignorant of the hard, sometimes damaging ‘norms’ that need challenging.

Do you think the American Civil Rights Movement began with someone simply going about their day and hoping for change? Do you think the Suffragettes simply sat idle by their husbands or fathers sides and kept all their fears, thoughts and dreams inside?

No.

Change is necessary for growth and the world needs to do a hell of a lot more of that.

Now when it comes to a Generational Divide such as that between my generation and what some might call ‘the boomers’ or older generations of this world, I believe it’s a case of misunderstanding. Misunderstanding that goes so deep it becomes perceived as ignorance on the older side and improper, radical behaviour on the younger.

Neither is true.

In the 60s and 70s, that generation was similar due to them being the start of their own generational revolution which brought about movements such as Rock and Roll, the beginning of the Pride parades and Civil Rights Movements as well as unfair wage strikes and people protesting the environment.

Yes, it was a great time to be born in the golden age of music too (my opinion).

However, the institutions run by these exact members of these generations fail to see the good and ideas that young people wish to instil on the world due to their age.
A prime example being Greta Thunberg, who endured vast criticism and belief that her parents were the ones truly pulling the strings behind the scenes – thus a lack of trust, by the media and others, due to age.

I’ve noticed as well, that children are generally treated as lesser, not in importance, but in their views and opinions until society deems them ‘legally’ adults. This can be incredibly frustrating to confident and well-versed individuals who want to be heard but are limited to child status simply because of age constraints. Someone who’s 16 or even 11 can feel like an adult but society labels them otherwise.

This is by no means a reflection on entire older generations but simply the few that make it hard to be heard as both a young person and as someone actively wanting to bring about change.

Another example of a lack of trust in youth judgement is that governments or institutions have a rule to refuse students to leave school premises or even punish them for attending climate strikes. This premise of fear that these ruling powers have, that students will use this time irresponsibly and thereby slowly stop turning up to school altogether if they support this global movement to save the planet, is based on a few individuals but offers group punishment as an answer.

This isn’t right.

Students and young people shouldn’t have to prove their reliability or endure punishment simply because of a generalisation of a generation when the vast majority genuinely want to protest climate injustice and hope for a better future that these governments and institutions made worse in the first place.

A positive feedback loop that ensures no one wins.

Younger generations are left to the a system that treats them as a single entity (forces them to wear the same clothes etc.) and the system continues to oppress a fight for justice that should concern all involved.

But it doesn’t.

So when I talk of my generation and the movements some of us have pioneered (Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future campaign) or taken part in (the age group with the greatest participance in the Black Lives Matter Movement is under 35s or students protesting the extortionate fees to get into University) I say that there is a serious power and likemindedness in these generations that wasn’t there before. Many people with one goal, which is precisely what our world needs.

So what really needs resolving is this crisis of understanding between generations. An understanding that ensures phrases such as “Phone-obsessed” and “Are young people to blame for new surges in the Coronavirus?” aren’t being tied to an entire generation of individuals and that older generations understand fully the weight of their responsibility to the younger generation and their treatment of them as intelligent people they could learn from and not the other way around.

We have so much to give and so much to learn either way.