Dignity Across Ages: Finding Unity in Generational Difference

A World of Generational Divide 

How is your generation defined? Are you an “iPad kid”? A “screenager”? Are you considered lazy and entitled? Overlooked? Out of touch with reality? These labels, placed on different generations in America, speak to more than how a generation is perceived; they reveal our unique cultural moment, one where each generation critiques others while being critiqued. Thus, they form an endless cycle of cynicism and mistrust. We live in a time where division is more rewarded than unity. As even the generations around us have become our enemies, we scarcely notice that it is our own increase in language, critiques, and canceling that drives a wedge between ourselves and the people around us. 

As a younger generation begins to form their own identity in their adolescent years, the generational divides grow in prominence. Children and parents may disagree over parenting matters, and the newer generation’s ideas of freedom may lead to misunderstandings and arguments. While both generations must respond to the current cultural context, they often do so from different generational schemas. The Pew Research Center calls this mechanism the “age effect,” where life stage plays a significant role in the formation of beliefs [1]. Younger people tend to care about new and upcoming issues, while older generations tend to focus on tradition and what has passed the test of time. The Silent Generation grew up in the wake of the Great Depression and the World Wars, and as young adults, they spearheaded the culture wars in the 60s and 70s. The Boomers grew up in post-World War America and were major voices in hippie culture and the Vietnam War. Gen X was born at the height of the Cold War and were in their twenties during the fall of the Berlin Wall. Millennials were parented through 9/11 and experienced the rising popularity of the internet as they got older. Gen Z was born into a world with the internet and has experienced adolescence through COVID 19. Generations are not categorized perfectly, but each generation has been shaped by their experience of particular global events, affecting how they see the world and interact with others. 

Technology Shapes it All

Technology has had one of the greatest influences on how we interact with one another. Technological advancements have removed the social aspects of many tasks. Instead of leading to more collaboration, technology often transforms the title of those around us from “helper” or “partner” to “competitor.” The social psychologist Jean Twenge theorizes that technology leads to more individualism and a slower process of growing up [2]. The combination of technology with major life events begins to distinguish each generation and leads to generational differences. While technology is not innately evil or good, it has a major impact on how generations think and are therefore formed. In her book Generations, Twenge states, “Technological change isn’t just about stuff; it’s about how we live, which influences how we think, feel, and behave” [3]. Inventions that bring convenience to our lives—from modern grocery stores and washing machines to TVs and phones—have shifted how people conceptualize time, work, and relationships. Each major technological advancement has the power to transform life completely, and today, generations are turning over faster because of the increased pace of technological advancement [4]. While smart technology and personalized algorithms advance the world’s productivity, they also divide generations in a completely new way. Smart technology has a strong capacity to connect families spread across the country and globe and can provide a way to share learning and information across generations. However, while it can be used for good, it is also used to hurt. Rather than acknowledging that we are all “young” to this new era of technology, we are faced with an algorithm that confines us to our generation, humor that degrades others, and unique challenges that each generation faces and seems to face alone. Where do we go from here? 

A Generational Blame Game

While it would be easy to encourage the idealistic intergenerational unity shown in political ads, there is also the reality that deep pain can come from generational differences. As a generation comes of age, there will likely be a point where they come face to face with how they perceive themselves. This process of reflection can lead to celebration or discouragement and often contains a complicated mix of both. Upon the recognition of disappointments with the way that life has gone, it is easy to place immediate fault on the people who have influenced us. Parents, teachers, and adults make profound impacts on children’s lives, for good and for bad. In some deeply painful situations, there is a lasting genetic impact on how one generation’s painful behaviors hurt the next. Research has been developed on how PTSD and its extreme effect on one’s body can be passed down to the next generation, and trauma survivors who become parents can sometimes externalize their symptoms onto their children [5]. This can have an intense and deeply felt shift on how someone sees others, themselves, and the world. Each generation has been greatly shaped by what has gone on in their lives, especially what has gone on in the world during their most formative years.  

Still, a single generation does not have the power to fail the entire world or mess up the next generation completely. The world holds multiple generations at once, and the unique balance of who is in the world shapes what occurs and how the world responds. What one generation critiques about another generation may actually be its strongest and most unique strength. For example, it was the cultural rebellion of the Silent Generation that often received criticism from a generation of parents who patriotically fought in the war, yet it was this same generation that spearheaded the Civil Rights Movement. Life circumstances can also lead to differing ideas about what love is, how it is given, and how it is received. However, there is always room for growth, and potential to redeem even the most intergenerationally dismayed qualities for good. There is great power in the act of listening, empathizing, asking questions, and understanding. While this does not cover the expanse of how generational differences affect our lives, we do need a kind of empathy that makes us look deeply at ourselves and graciously towards others.

Teaching as Peace-cultivating 

Schools are a wonderful place to begin learning this empathy as they provide children with some of the most prominent intragenerational and cross-generational interactions apart from their families. These environments are where generations are visibly characterized and initial ideas about other generations are formed. As a future teacher, my days are filled with conversations surrounding the next generation, and I often find myself wrapped up in the common stereotypes around Gen Alpha: “All they do is stare at screens”; “They’ll never get anywhere with such short attention spans.” I hear these complaints from educators, parents, and other generations. As I hear these accusations, I often find myself dreading what it will be like to teach and connect with students much younger than me. But, is that not the job of a teacher in the first place: to connect, lead, and encourage those who come after me? I strongly believe that I am to be a model of intergenerational peace. Amid all that a teacher is asked to do, they are ultimately peace cultivators. Teachers keep a sense of peace through classroom management and they provide spaces to have conversations surrounding real-life areas that need peace. By aiming to bridge a generational gap through educating students on bringing peace to the world, teachers cultivate peace between the generations. 

As picturesque as that sounds, teaching is also extremely tiring. Constantly striving for peace while keeping one’s own peace can be overwhelming. To believe strongly in peace, teachers also need to believe that they can bring peace, which in many ways feels like a rare commodity in education. As a college student, I already feel discouraged by the current statistics of teacher turnover and teacher burnout. For me to have hope in the education system, I need to have hope for my students and to believe that they can and will change things. As a teacher, I should have some of the most prominent, grounded, and greatest hope for the next generation as I empower each student in their unique strengths. However, hope is rare, and I often find myself struggling to know what it means to have hope in the huge problem of intergenerational conflict. It is in these moments of feeling overwhelmed that, as a Christian, I look to Jesus as an example of what it means to care for every person, no matter what their age is. 

A God Who Dignifies 

The Bible states that at the beginning of the world, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him” [6]. In their utmost perfection, unique from any other creature that God created, humans reflect who God is. Every good aspect of human beings—the human desires to create, think, laugh, discuss, and have peace—reflect who God is. Christians believe that at the very foundation of what it means to be human is to reflect God and therefore have dignity at every stage of life. If every single person is dignified in reflecting God, then every generation uniquely reflects God’s character and deserves dignity. 

This is exactly how Jesus lived. Throughout his ministry, Jesus notably set aside time for the children. In a story from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is teaching, and a group of children tries to approach him. The disciples quickly rebuke the children and keep them away from interrupting Jesus’ busy schedule. Jesus defends the children, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” [7]. Jesus honors the way of children, even stating that one must be childlike in stature to enter the kingdom of God. Throughout the Apostle Paul’s ministry, he honors youth in a similar way, stating, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers as an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” [8]. He argues that older Christians have a lot to learn from the example that younger Christians can set. The Bible not only honors young people, but those that are older as well. In the famous fifth commandment, children are asked to “Honor your father and mother” [9]. In the book of 1st Peter, the Apostle Peter writes, “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” [10]. As a Christian, I believe that at the heart of Christianity is a deep care for every human being, because at the heart of who He is, Jesus is a dignifier. There is no simple solution to intergenerational conflict, but I have hope that as a teacher I can begin to heal generational wounds by following a God who cares more for me and my students than I ever could. 

A Structure for Intergenerational Peace 

Understanding the dignity of each generation, Christians are also called to have relationships across generations. In the Gospel of John, Jesus states, “A new commandment I give to you is that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another” [11]. Christians are commanded to be witnesses by their love for one another, including love across generations. One of the most notable intergenerational relationships in the Bible is the intergenerational friendship between Paul, Barnabus, and Timothy. The Apostle Paul mentored Timothy and poured his time and resources into encouraging him. In the second of two letters to Timothy, Paul writes, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” [12]. Paul not only speaks of the wisdom he had shared with Timothy throughout their friendship, but also encourages him to share it with others. Later in his life, Timothy becomes a pastor in Ephesus, serving the church with the wisdom that Paul shared.  However, Paul did not do all his work alone. He was supported by the dear friendship of Barnabus, an early Church leader who traveled, supported, taught, and suffered alongside Paul. The Bible is filled with examples of one generation teaching and caring for the other, creating a wonderful cycle of learning. 

So what now? 

In a season of life that is marked by mistrust and division, what will you do? Who will you be? Will you remain confined to the stereotypes of your generation and solidify the stereotypes of others? In a world that needs peace, and for humans who desire to be dignified, there is great potential for what intergenerational relationships can do. What if we empowered each generation to offer their whole selves in expectation of what we might create, heal, and restore together?

References

1. Geiger, Abigail. “The WHYS and Hows of Generations Research.” Pew Research Center, September 3, 2015. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/09/03/the-whys-and-hows-of-generations-research/. 
2. Twenge, Jean. Generations. New York, NY: Atria Books, 2023. 
3. Twenge, Jean. Generations. New York, NY: Atria Books, 2023. 
4. Twenge, Jean. Generations. New York, NY: Atria Books, 2023. 
5. Yehuda, Rachel, and Amy Lehrner. “Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma Effects: Putative Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms.” World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), October 2018. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6127768/. 
6. Genesis 1:27, ESV
7. Luke 18:15-17, ESV
8. 1 Timothy 4:12, ESV
9. Deuteronomy 5:16, ESV
10. 1 Peter 5:5-6, ESV
11. John 13:34-35, ESV
12. 2 Timothy 2:1-2, ESV