Vaneet Verma
A generation gap in its simplest form may be understood as the difference between the views of young people and their parents. The generation gap is the constant struggle of the parents to prevent kids from doing things that their own experiences and wisdom tell them is going to harm their kids. The kids on the other hand try constantly to prove to their parents that they are equipped to take control of their lives. Neither is wrong- both are right in their own premise. The parents blinded by their love for the kids would rather have their own experiences replace the experiences of their kids. Whereas, the kids are convinced that their decisions are right and are based on current situations that parents may not necessarily be aware of. Their most common statement is “Things are different now”. The most common mistake that parents make is that they treat their kids either too young or they start measuring them at their own level.
It is not necessary that the kids do not understand their parents’ love and their concern but they just think they are in a different era and they have the ability to take decisions of their own. It can be understood by a simple situation – if the whole family is travelling in car and the young one is driving the car, the parents when ask him to drive according to them, the young one, in most of the cases gets irritated and makes a comment that “I am much mature now and I know what I am doing”.
Although some generation differences have existed throughout history, because of more rapid cultural change during the modern era, differences between the two generations has increased in comparison to the previous times, particularly with respect to matters such as musical tastes, fashion, culture and politics.The generation gap does not of course, exist at all in many families. There are many households where it doesn’t occur at all. There are fights and arguments and children defying their parents but these are occasional and minor. So the question arises here what is that in such families where there is no place for generation gap?
Here are the various secrets that give answer to this question and prove useful in bridging the generation gap.
* Lots of communication and involvement: This is obvious one but not the easy one to follow. Both parents and kids should involve themselves in communication with each other. This helps in sharing the ideas and help bridging the generation gap.
* Clear Boundaries: Keeping a clear boundary help in bridging the generation gap. As long as the parents and children know these boundaries both can be much freer and closer to each other.
* Clear Values: Make it clear that everything has to be earned. If kids want respect for their opinions they have to learn respect the opinions of others and the parents should listen to kids with patience.
* Foster Self-dependence: Essentially this means, teach them to know their own minds and make their own decisions. Make it clear to them that even when they make mistakes, it’s not the end of the world- it’s an essential part of learning process.
* Don’t forbid anything in absolute terms because the forbidden is always very attractive and enforce them to do what is forbidden. It’s almost natural.
* Mutual Respect is one of the most important and is the best way to bridge the generation gap between the old and the new generation.
Moreover, Generation gap can be reduced to a large extent by making efforts from both parents and kids. I must mention here that most efforts must come from the parents’ side- they have the wisdom. It becomes easier to adjust if parents constantly refresh their mind memories by their own past experiences and the young ones learn and understand from the love, level and experience of their parents.
(The author is lecturer in Computer Science Govt Hr Sec. School Saaj)
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