Chairman of the department of psychology at Vassar College, Dr. Joseph Stone, pointed out that “ historians often point out ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman complaints about the wilful disorderliness of the young to prove that this is an age old problem. It is part of the growing-up process of every gen eration. Part of the parental problem is facing the fact that our young grow up.” It is true that today’s young people behave d if ferently, dress differently, and have new ways of getting their so-called “ kicks” out of life, and have somewhat differing ideologies from their parents, yet, on closer examination it will be found that they may be closer to their parents than a mere surface look at them reveals. Researchers in Chicago, for instance, found that the average young persons between 18 and 24, far from totally “ rebelling against their par ents,” really hold almost identical political views with their parents! The research was done with 60 families in which about half of the parents described them selves as liberals while the other half said they were conservatives. The majority of students from these homes were found to share their parents' attitudes, especially where basic issues were concerned. II. The “generation gap" is widely accepted as a fact, contrary to evidence and logic, because it has been exploited by TV and mass advertising. Superintendent of schools in Lake County, Illinois, W. C. Petty, says, “ Television and the news media have been the ones who have abused and overused the term, ‘generation gap.’ Fundamentally, the differ ences between parents and children are the same as they have always been. In every generation when kids reach adolescence some of them go Wild, even those from the best of homes. Adolescence is a pe riod of great dislocation, but they usually come to their senses when they get a little older. Look at the “ prodigal son” in the story Jesus told. He was from a high-class home but he “ went stray.” Most likely he would have explained to his companions in the language of that day, “ My old man just doesn’t know what it’s all about!" But the lad found out that he was the one who had a few extra lessons of homework left to do before under standing what life was really all about. Some observers feel that the advertising indus try is to blame for some of this widening of the gap, by their methods of appeal to get sales. References with such terms of "generation gap,” “ flower chil dren,” "psychadelic drug culture,” and “ youth in rebellion,” do harm to the development of correct cul tural patterns. A New York psychiatrist remarked that “ This is all a product of a Madison Avenue-oriented culture.” Catchy expressions get the public inter ested, then they become household words, like “ Klee nex” or “ Mr. Clean.” This psychiatrist pointed out that “ when this happens, it becomes very difficult to shake loose the expression and its image. In this case, it makes it much more difficult for parents and THE KING’S BUSINESS
“GENERATION GAP” TRUTH or MYTH? by Dr. William S. Deal H as your teenage son or daughter looked pityingly at you recently and said, “ You just don’t under stand— you belong to another generation!’’ or simi lar words? If so, don't be alarmed. Sons and daugh ters were saying virtually the same things to their parents thousands of years ago. Perhaps today there is a greater difference in the sociological and tech nological patterns of our current times and times forty years ago than in any similar time span in any other civilization. But this excepted, parents and chil dren are on about the same par with each other as they have been for ages. Once grown, adults tend to repress and forget the unhappy times of childhood, especially the “ teen years,” which in some ways are the worst part of anyone’s life. This is unfortunate of course, but it need not become tragic. Psychologists and sociologists today are begin ning to question seriously whether the so-called “ gen eration gap” ever existed in the first place. The very term itself was an invention of the late 1960’s which never existed before this time. Workers in the fields of social and psychological research feel that a fraud has been perpertrated on the brainwashed public by TV, Madison Avenue and the rest of the mass media of newspapers, magazines and so on. Basic differences have always existed between tenagers and those in the early 20’s and the more mature citizens of the 40 ’s and 50’s. Today, how ever, with this monstrous “ generation gap” staring them in the face, millions of parents seem to have abdicated common sense and are not trying to really understand and come to terms with their younger set. I. The “generation gap" idea is an over-wrought new term for a situation as old as the race. “ The ‘generation gap,' as it is popularly conceived, must be regarded as something of a myth,” says Dr. Vern L. Bengtson, Professor of sociology at the University of Southern California. “ The term is meaningless in a scientific sense and, even worse, it wrongly char acterizes interaction between age groups today.” Dr. Bengtson also pointed out that the term “ gap” signifies to many people an almost “ irreconciliable” gap existing between the older and younger genera tion. In reality, most of such differences are merely matters of adjustment and maturity. 16
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