Generation Gap Many Of Today's Young People, ...

Generation Gap Many of today’s young people, unlike their parents, have never known anything but a world dominated by technology. Even their social lives revolve around the Web, iPods, and cellphones. So they dress down, talk loose, and reveal their innermost thoughts online. The result is a generation that doesn’t have the same concept of privacy, manners, and personal boundaries as generations before. On top of that, they don’t care as much about making a good impression as their parents and grandparents did growing up, says San Diego State University Professor Jean Twenge. In ‘99, 76% of kids ages 8 to 12 (now in high school or college) paid little attention to social approval, up from 57% in ‘70. Among college students in ‘01, it was 62%, compared with 56% in ‘70. This generation uses technology to facilitate relationships and interactions in a way other generations never have. They can have 3 or 4 parallel tech-enabled conversations while ignoring someone else sitting in the same room. Adults may believe that young people don’t care about social standards, but they do, says syndicated columnist Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners. “Young people care deeply about the norms and practices of their contemporaries,” she says. They just don’t understand “that the standards of adults affect them.” (USA Today 6/20/06)