It’s common that the older generation will often criticize the way that the new generation grows up. I believe this happens from the beginning of all humanity. But the question is, how big is the generation gap really between a 30-year old and a 10-year old in the early 20’s and how big is it now, almost a hundred years later?
I was not around in the early 20’s, but I can tell that the gap wasn’t much smaller than today. As a 90’s kid, born in 1993, I had some experiences before the millennium, and I now see some minor changes in the way that kids are now passing their time; somewhat different than the way my friends and I were passing our time.
I saw a TV series that had a chat referring to the way that kids are growing up these days, and the focus was on the technological evolution; others said we don’t have as much time to raise kids, as families did one hundred years ago, due to working hours. Things are not as different as they seem.
For me, both arguments are correct, but I would like to add something to that. Everybody born after the 80’s had an electronic game when they were kids. Maybe that was a GameBoy, a Sega or a handheld Tetris game. When these came out, parents were not enthusiastic about buying those for their children but at some point they did. When years passed, and gaming devices were almost in every house, the idea that kids are meant to play with them was fast growing in everyone’s minds.
Now, the generation that grew up with playing the first electronic games, are having their own children. The main difference now, is that parents accept the current electronic lifestyle of their kids, because at some level they also grew up this way. Another difference that I see is that the time devoted to the electronic games is much more that we allotted to play. Being plugged in today is more than just about gaming!
Technology is one example that brings generations together. So, how big has the gap grown? What are the other problems these generation gaps will face in the near future?
By Marios Vassiliou – Mediazone Social Media Administrator
