Minister Thomas Barnes of St. Margaret’s Church observed, “Youth were never more sawcie, ...the ancient are scorned, the honorable are contemned, the magistrate is not dreaded.” Even if he originally penned it in 1624, it’s a sentiment that would not be out of place on social media in 2023. According to John Protzko, a psychological scientist at UC Santa Barbara, “It’s the exact same complaints time after time — they’re disrespectful, they don’t listen to their elders and they don’t like to work.” These findings led him to coin the term, “the kids these days effect.” He also notes that complaints like these cross all sorts of boundaries: cultural, geographic, generational, and socioeconomic.
One of the least predictable variables in addressing this topic is the operational definitions that so many of us use and assume to be commonly understood. Generations themselves and the value they offer can be relative and described in myriad ways. Particularly in the setting of an independent school, people often wear multiple hats and gain expertise through on-the-job learning, so effective use of technology is a responsibility that we all bear.
How we define generations can be an indicator of differing perspectives in and of itself. Most analyses of generational differences center on the passage of time and major world events during any group’s shared formative years. I was a freshman in college during the attack on September 11th, and was astounded to see that with each successive year, the students in the high school psychology classes I taught were younger and eventually not even born at the time of that pivotal event. But ask anyone who was a student or teacher during March of 2020, and they can probably recall in vivid detail when they found out that their school would be dismissing or going virtual for the lockdown response to COVID-19.
But even this shared response to cataclysmic global occurrences isn’t always enough to unite us. In her book, Generations, Dr. Jean Twenge proposes that it is technology impacting the levels of individualism and speed of daily life that shapes how we respond to these major events, and this is what forms our shared generational identity. The Vietnam War was pivotal, due in large part to it being the first war depicted on television in real time. Our grandparents may have used different terminology than we do today, but they also learned to tell a joke to get a laugh; Gen Z is far more likely to use a visual medium like a GIF or a meme.
Where seasoned experts can avoid rookie mistakes, disrupters can often be the future leaders in an evolving field. But perhaps the value offered by different generations is less about their unifying characteristics (speaking in wildly general terms), and more about what can come out of a combination of those diverse generational viewpoints. Older members of a community offer expertise, institutional memory, lessons learned, and continuity in an organization. Younger co-workers may get frustrated by the potential for cynicism, fixed mindset, and a resistance to change. But slow your roll, young ‘uns; you may be lucky enough to end up as one of those old dogs trying to learn new tricks someday. So remember that it isn’t malicious or obstinate - their neural pathways are deeply ingrained and habits are hard to break.
Those young pups, on the other hand, can offer a breath of fresh air to stagnant settings. Plenty of independent schools are reaching impressive milestones - 55, 70, 91 years of serving students makes them a stable presence in the community, and rife with potential for letting protocols and procedures languish in comfort. They can bring new energy, an atypical worldview, and innovation that hasn’t yet been soured by discouraging supervision or a fixed “that’s how it’s always been done” mindset; they are often more willing to question norms. Yet, their unwillingness to take no for an answer, lack of understanding of when to cut bait, and just plain impracticality can take a toll on the patience of their wizened mentors. Even Ronald Reagan, when it was pointed out in a presidential debate, “you already are the oldest President in history,” generously pledged not to hold a grudge: “I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.”
Experience may continue to be accumulated, but it will not always remain relevant. Some skill sets will fade out as successive generations shift their priorities, due to technological or social change. Even if the hardware stays the same year after year, we can choose to seek out new ways to make use of those familiar tools.
When it came to the ideal form of government within a society, early political philosopher Cicero built on the work of his predecessors to suggest that a “mixed and moderated form” would best serve the community. Each of the three major forms of rule (power held by one, few, or many) has its own flaws, but when combined they can compensate for each others’ weaknesses and provide the most stability with the least risk. Perhaps this same notion could be extrapolated out to modern organizations; schools, workplaces, and community organizations could all benefit from taking a similar approach to fostering generational diversity.
Some folks have already discovered the benefits of this blended approach, making the most of a workplace that is a generational sampler platter. At the intersection of academic and corporate cultures resides @TheMeanestTA, much to our delight. She shared a series of tweets where she explained the way she offered her translation services to her team members unfamiliar with modern slang, and in return, they help her to polish her unfiltered thoughts into more professional terminology. Hilarity ensues, but this mutual consultation likely aids in building and maintaining both personal and professional relationships.
For this to work to the greatest benefit of all parties involved, a certain level of humility and self-awareness is required. As one mental health therapist recently discovered, when she posted a video on TikTok outlining her critiques of different generations’ parenting styles, it was actually the reactions to the post that were most revealing.
"Both generations of parents were given feedback by me around how their behaviors are hurting their children, and this is how each generation chose to respond. ... No one is a bad person, parent, or partner because they avoid unwanted emotions (e.g., boredom, embarrassment, guilt, shame, resentment, regret, etc.). However, these strategies [for avoiding unwanted emotions] can be ineffective for building relationships, whether it's boomers avoiding accountability or millennials being on their phones."
Each generation has had to discover and create their own way forward in a world that is increasingly challenging. Imagine how much more enjoyable the whole endeavor would be if we worked as teammates rather than opponents in a shared goal. Employing the classic improvisational performance strategy of yes, and... we can meet each other where we are and go from there, instead of lamenting the social and situational forces that are at the root of multi-generational perceived incompatibility.
Sometimes the outside perspective that can be offered by a friend or colleague who is of another era can be just the spark that gets us to question our own internalized assumptions. Millennials might challenge the “need” to have a set of ‘fancy dishes’ and point out that tradition is just peer pressure from the past, and the Greatest Generation could be the ones who point out that fitting in doesn’t matter that much and remind us that we are capable of enduring far more than we think we are.
In Calgary, for example, an unlikely partnership has been forged between a team of Olympic hopefuls from New Zealand and the octogenarian Canadian curling veterans and superfans. The athletes on a shoestring budget were happily welcomed by residents of a retirement community, eager to share their hard-won wisdom. And the arrival of these fresh young faces shook things up in the best way; according to Cassandra Murray, a retirement living consultant and former competitive curler herself, “There is so much life in the building.” Similar creative solutions to a variety of logistical challenges in the modern world have proven widely beneficial to all parties involved. Penn State professor of intergenerational programs and aging, Matthew Kaplan, suggests that programs like these foster enduring relationships built over time and frequent interaction. College students receiving discounted housing in the Netherlands and France or even folks attending the Cleveland Institutes of Art and Music have all demonstrated a symbiotic relationship that serves to meet the needs of the community while passing along experience and specialized expertise, all while significantly reducing loneliness.
Since time immemorial, generations have each had their own unique values and vulnerabilities. Schools often serve as a stable, consistent presence in our society, and independent schools can truly choose to chart their own path in that regard. Finding the perfect blend of ‘well-established’ and ‘on the cutting edge,’ is a tricky recipe that is different for every community. Remember that those fuddy-duddies telling you to get off their lawn were rebels in their own era, lamenting nearly four decades ago that “parents just don’t understand.”
“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances. ... They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.” Rhetoric, Aristotle, 4th century BC.
OK, Boomer.