Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Generation gap

Was with a bunch of kids last Saturday. I wonder the term 'generation gap' is a modern term or not. Imagine during the ancient times when there is probably no changes in the lifestyle between the time a grandfather was 12 years old and the time his great grandson is 12 years old, did people then have any idea of this term 'generation gap'? May be, but surely not as intense as today. The world and culture is changing so fast. It is very easy for two persons of a age difference of 10 or 5 years to feel the gap between them. What about parents? Some parents tried to close the gap by becoming friends to their children. It is not easy, and I also wonder, when the parents became friend of the kids, who then is their parents? Any suggestions, people?
I am considering these:
- build good bonding between a group of families of different generations, then both the children and can learn from the slightly elder ones. Because some practical advices that work 5 years back could already have become outdated.
- the elder ones cannot assume that the younger are experiencing and growing in a similar way as them, and therefore cannot expect the younger to understand them by default. Thus the elder ones, other than trying to listen to the younger, also need to tell and explain to them what happened during their times. Because this background knowledge helps the younger to better understand the advices and instructions given by the elder ones.
- traditional and conservative practices may not be good or practical in the present times. However, many new concepts and ideas are also worse than the traditional and conservative practices. So, don't blindly follow any of the traditional, conservative, new concepts, new ideas. Study and analyze the various practices according to some fundamentally correct principles (the pure conscience in each one of us knows what's that) and adopt the right way.

No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails