A Generational Clash

If there is anything my mother has ingrained into my brain, it is to treat people with kindness and respect. This sounds like a good concept and something we, as a generation, should strive to live by. Many argue that those older than you deserve more respect. However, why should they deserve more respect simply because they have rotated around our lovely sun more times than us? There is a major fault in this belief which I fundamentally disagree with.

When my mother was a child, my grandmother would get indignant at her for things that my grandmother’s mother had done. The same is true for my family. My grandmother will anger my mother, which inevitably leads to my mother being mad at me. Instead of discussing why she was upset with her mother, she takes out her frustration on her children because we are “younger and don’t understand.” This all leads back to some false idea that we should have respect for our elders simply because they are our elders. 

Respect is a two-way street. Both parties must actively work towards being kind and considerate of the other’s thoughts and preferences, or else the whole concept is impractical. The notion that everyone should respect everyone simply because they are “older” or “deserve it” is utopian in its purest nature, dystopian at its worst, and, quite frankly, explicitly idealistic, not realistic.

While the causes are not exactly clear, it could be because my mother and grandmother both grew up with a vastly different culture in Pakistan. In my mother’s childhood, the children were practically guilt-tripped into treating their elders with the utmost respect. Or maybe its because of the technological advancements of these past two decades. When my mother was a child, there was not the quick access to mundane questions we have now. If she did not know the answer, she would first ask his or her parents, and if they didn’t know, she would go to the library and tediously flip book pages, looking for an answer. Parents and elders were seen as the bearers of knowledge, beacons of intellect. Today, we can simply Google the answer with instant gratification. Or maybe it could be because of the toxic nature of the political climate that we were born into. I believe it is a myriad of all these things and more.

To all those not in Gen Z, and specifically those that (intentionally or not) have a superiority complex simply because you are older, please take a step back and ask yourself why. Why do you think you are better than us just because you have been around for longer? Think back to your youth. Did you ever feel ostracized by the adults in your life? Please, for the emotional wellness of the next generation, stop pushing your anger from work or family onto your children, your siblings, or younger people in your life. Instead, address the issues with the person it actually involves. Stop yelling at us to to do the dishes and telling us that we are useless, and instead think, “Maybe it’s actually my boss that’s useless?” Or maybe, recognize and address the fact that it is your own childhood trauma that is impeding your own emotional stability. Seriously, it could help the mental wellness of our generation. If you don’t think this important, I’m disappointed but not surprised.