Being the older brother of two, soon to be three sisters, has taught me a lot about the differences between generations of people and the divide that those differences form. I am a Gen Z kid and the way I grew up is drastically different from my sister who is also Gen Z, but is closer to Gen X, missing the mark by a year, but our personalities are different a large part of that is the type of society we grew up in.
A worn-out conversation, but the increased usage of cell phones and the technological advancements they brought has changed how kids learn, socialize and react to situations. That advancement has widened the gap between young teens and young adults, and the connection is harder to form between the two because of the younger generation’s reliance on phones. I grew up with a flip phone and only upgraded to a better phone in my second year of high school, but every saw the appeal of being consumed by electronic devices.
The generational split has made it harder to connect and relate to the younger generation, they are all about social media, which I’m aware that members of my generation are as well, but that involvement came along a lot later then the age kids get involved in it now. Nowadays kids don’t attempt to socialize I’d even argue that sentiment has carried over to our generation since people would prefer being on their phones and listening to music as opposed to engaging in conversation, that’s not the case for everyone because there are exceptions to everything.
I think the normalization of phones has caused a wave of primarily antisocial kids consumed by social media and uninterested in socializing with the outside world or even family members. I’m sure we can all recount one or two younger family members. The way that the world is moving for kids seems to be a bleak one and with the ongoing technological advancements every day it is unlikely that we will see another generation of children willing to socialize and not be stuck on their phones.
A tough battle would need to be fought to help influence the younger generation to be a more open group of individuals and although it would be difficult the solutions rely in those before Gen X. The solution to this gap relies on the actions and effort from the older generation of people, Gen Z and Millennials are the remnants of the social generation, and their upbringings can be used to educate the younger generations on the importance of socializing, with their influence on Gen X the gap can be depleted, and we can hopefully dimmish the conversation points and issues presented with the generational divide.
