The Generational Gap

Gen Z and Gen A undoubtedly top the list of generations which have experienced a vast and seemingly unbridgeable gulf with their parents. Every generation has its fair share of challenges and understanding issues with its parents and other elders of the family, but due to rapidly advancing technology in this era and briskly evolving thinking patterns of this modern world zoomers and alpha are often found complaining “my parents do not understand me!” which is often true.

The conflict of different generations

Leaving aside rest of the world, lets look into brown households of India and Pakistan. Parents in this region of the world tend to have stricter attitude towards their children and are quick to label any form of an attempt to discuss an issue with them as a sign of “disrespect”. Even before the advent of the internet and technology, parents in these countries held a complete control of their child’s life and the sons and daughters were expected to abide by all the “orders” of their parents. Unfortunately, such an intensity of fear (of parents) was ingrained into a child’s mind that he could not even think of going against his/her parent’s wishes. Rarely a child had his own personality as he/she entirely mirrored the disposition of the parents. This merry go round had been going for generations; therefore, the element of uniqueness and “doing something different” was almost non-existent in these traditionalist society. Children did not feel empower to work on something they felt passionate about and were burdened with parental expectations of scoring good marks, becoming a doctor or an engineer, securing a job, getting married to someone their parents choose, and then immediately fulfil your parent’s dream of becoming grandparents. Ah, too complicated! Now we see that this is not the reflection of religious teachings as both India and Pakistan are dominated by two different religions, but rather this is a cultural mindset that both countries have in common. Millennials, Gen X and other preceding generations were somehow able to live up to these unrealistic expectations and let their parents steer their lives.

What is different about alpha and zoomers?

Alpha and Zoomers, however, turned out to be distinct. They began breaking the unnecessary cultural barriers that were ruining the lives and giving birth to a nation of puzzled, pliable individuals who had no sense of their identity, moral principles, and their religion. The fear and respect of parents previously did not encourage people to be curious, to question, and to research, but instead they blindly believed what their parents taught them. The widescale access to internet now a days is making Gen Z and Gen A question the pessimistic cultural practices and think outside a cocoon their parents created. Now, this inquisitiveness among children agitates the parents who themselves grew up in a “just listen to your parents. They are always right” environment. Parents find it difficult to cope up with these fast-pacing technological changes and their everyday impacts. On one hand, where it is vital to follow your religion, preserve your culture, and respect your parents, it is also crucial to adapt with the changes in the world and adopt a suitable parenting style. Now it is more important to seem approachable and friendly by your children rather than a stern figure they are supposed to be apprehensive of. Both generations have something to learn from and teach each other. Being able to learn something from your children does not make you inferior so it is necessary to let go of that mindset. Parents no longer should impose their dreams on their children because this will just widen the generational gap which will create misunderstandings and have negative influence on family ties. Parents and children need each other, but not understanding your children can drift them away. It is the responsibility of parents to advise their children and empower them to follow their goals. Such empowered children tend to change the destinies of their families, their country or even the world.

Parenting Styles

There are different forms of parenting styles- permissive, authoritative, neglectful, authoritarian- and each style has been thoroughly studied by human psychologists. Being an obstinate parent just pushes your child away from you, and he/she will always be reluctant to seek your help or share his/her matters with you. Researchers suggest that authoritative (not authoritarian) parenting   attitude has yielded most favourable results for raising confident and successful children. Ensure the efficient moral training of your children at a young age, and then let them choose their path. Be the parent that they need. Be the teacher they love and a best friend they can rely on.