Porntip Kanjananiyot
Chotima Chaitiamwong
Fulbright Thailand
Abstract
No longer does ‘Age’ take the blame forcausing the generation gap. It is overtaken by technology, the powerful gengapper, which affects cross generation communication by introducing newlanguage and culture. Kids today could also live safely in their second worldhidden from adults. Some of the behaviors they developed in their comfort zone,however, manifest through their interactions with others.
With different values, perceptions, andpersonality; people from different generations, particularly thetraditionalists and the millennials, find it hard to communicate with eachother. Communication crash occurs at home, workplace, and, in fact, anysocietal sectors.Ifthe trend continues, benefits of learning within and across generations couldbe unfortunately lessened.
Communication, both cross-cultural andcross-generation, must be encouraged. Direct exposure to various lifestyles andenvironments, combined with wise use of technology, could help better understandingof differences and increase tolerance. Educational institution is the realplayer in bridging the generation gap, using exchange programs as an effectivemechanism. As an organization and an incubator of tomorrow’s citizens, Thai educationalinstitutions, striving to keep up with the global trend, are tasked to take thelead to promote cross-generation communication with deep understanding of theThai context that needs to be adjusted in the era of international professionalstandards, in order to translate generation diversity into a rich resource.
‘Stop blaming on me’, said ‘Age’— Well! It’s a‘Yes’ and ‘No’
Nowadays, differences between generations aremore manifest and complex. Generationgap may not be the new term to us and many of us are familiar with the classicstories of the rebellious baby boomers in the late 1960s.
Since then, this ‘classic’ gap has only beenmade wider from many factors, especially the sense of independence that hasdelayed marriage and childbearing, and increasingly effective health care thathas enabled people to live longer, etc.
Definitely, age maintains its position as a gengapper, though not on the top of the list anymore.
However, the gap between different age groupsin this 21st century wouldn’t have rung an alarm bell if there wereno advances in technology!
Technology: The Powerful Gen Gapper
The world has changed dramatically in the last30 years. The pace of changes seemed to be even shorter and faster in therecent years with the striking technological advancement. Previously,generations were determined mainly by age, which influenced people’sperceptions, thinking, and values. The‘one world’ phenomenon, coupled with technological competency, has overtaken‘age’ as today’s rising, if not ‘risen’ star of gen gapper.
Globalization, or the one world phenomenon,started with mobility of people and businesses across borders, bringing withthem new values and practices. Thesemight be limited to those in the circle. With the advent of modern technology,people around the world are suddenly connected, within a blink of eyes.
In Thailand, university students wereintroduced to computer some 17 year ago. At that time, cell phones were rare,very bulky, and limited to calling and receiving functions. Today, studentscarry their own notebooks and possess the latest models of cell phones whichalso have the Internet option. In fact, almost everyone has their cell phones.The world is connected…too easy…too fast…too wild… and too mysteriously.
The informal survey by the Thailand-UnitedStates Educational Foundation (Fulbright Thailand) on the use of social networkamong 76 teenagers found that all the correspondents were online daily. Theyconsidered the Internet a convenient, effective, fast, and cheap way ofcommunication, among which Facebook, Google and Hotmail were on their top threefavorite sites. Facebook alone increased their social network in an unbelievingscale. The six degree of separation theory is inflated.
While opening up the communication channelfreely, particularly among peers, the Internet and social networking toolsincluding cell phones have created a ‘dream world’ or the second world in whichpeople can be wild with their fantasy, living the life they would and couldnever do in the real world. Kids can escape from their parents and adults totheir safe and comfort zones. Obviously, they tend to live even more happilyand independently in the virtual lives of their choice.
New Language, New Culture, and New Personality—NewSyndromes
Basically, three new syndromes could becomeevident.
First, it is a ‘Patience dilution syndrome’.Indeed, technology changes people’s life as it influences the way we communicateand conduct. Somehow, more advance technology correlate with the level of ourpatience. The faster speed of communication has made us reach many people inour own circle and beyond, withina second. Time and distance are no longer matters. As more time is naturallyneeded to contact increased numbers of people, we realize that the widercircles we can communicate with, the shorter we write.
Second, it is a ‘Code and cool-mania syndrome’.From the aforementioned survey, teenagers prefer short go-to-the-point messages,something that language teachers would call “deteriorate”. They pay noattention to grammar and normally mix Thai and English in the messages toexpress their thoughts. Slangs and codes are common, partly to be ‘cool’ andpartly for the exclusive message such as POS (“parent over shoulder”) and PRW(“parents are watching”)[1],which could not be detected from parents and others.
Third is ‘Thumb-driven communicationsyndrome’. Not only is the language changed, but the culture is impacted aswell. Culture in this context refers toperceptions, values, needs or drives, and lifestyles that widen generation gap.As mentioned, the younger generation, especially the teenagers, was born in thetechnology era and speaks their own technology language. While being moreengaged with their virtual and real peers, they alienate themselves from theone closest to them, their family. This, we might not blame them alone as manyof working parents find it more convenient to text their kids.
More Syndromes?
In fact, as frequent as kids text their friendssitting next to them, adults too do email one another in the same office. Withthe easy technology, people communicate with each other more indirectly. Theday we stop talking to each other might not come so soon but we do now losemuch of human contacts. As texting can be done anytime and anywhere…in themeeting…in the restaurant…or in the theatre, we are creating new sociallyacceptable norms that some could consider as ‘improper etiquettes’.
Ironically, while kids shut themselvesphysically, they open themselves virtually to the world. Their private lives,their pictures, and movie clips are shared worldwide to literally strangers.Everyone’s life is public. Everyone is the star. And it is fabulous to make astir, to show that you are distinctive and cool…even in the outrageous way. Yes.They developed the ‘Second-world syndrome’
Alarmingly, as raised by the New York MagazineOnline, the things that once were unacceptable like nude photos that lost aformer Miss America her crown some twenty years ago, were transformed from ashocker into a no-big-deal matter, and then into just another piece ofpublicity, and then into a kind of power.[2]
Surprisingly, the persons may look normal tothe eyes of many, particularly adults, but they can go extremely wild online.It was a story of a 13-year-old boy, known for his bright, sensitive, andkindness, who shocked his parents with his offensive racial comments on anotherkid in his blog. He was ‘tempted’ by the supposed anonymity and immediacy ofthe Internet to say something that he would not dare to say in real life.[3] The ‘out-of-norm’notion, meaning ‘unique’ or ‘original’, could lead the young generation to losetheir sense of appropriateness. To the older generation, the world seems to beupside-down.
While the young people feel free to post theirpersonal information and their profiles online, they are building the worldwith themselves as a center. A personal diary, which was once kept safe in thedrawer, is now available for public. Suddenly, they have followers and fansfrom different parts of the world. This, in some way, leads to the narcissisticeffect or the ‘My-ME syndrome’.
Another aspect that we here at FulbrightThailand have witnessed all through this year is the sense of‘entitlement’. Entitlement has becomethe matter of our serious concern as our younger grantees are inclined to focuson their ‘entitlement’ and ‘right’ while paying less attention to their‘responsibility’ and caring for others.
Today’s Thai Offices: Where the Generations Crash
With the deferment of retirement age and thenew recruitment from the expansion of jobs, we could see, for the first time inhistory, four distinct generations in a workplace.[4]We have the traditionalists/veterans (born before 1945 or 65 up), the BabyBoomers (born during 1945-1946 or 46-64), the Gen Xers (born during 1965-1978or 30-45), and the Millennials/ the Y’ers/ the digital generation/ Facebookgeneration (born after 1979 or 29 and younger).[5]Each of these groups inherits different perception, belief, and values,resulting in the high risk of generation crash.
In his article on generation gaps in USA Today,Denise Kersten summarized in an interesting way the general characteristics ofeach generation that may trigger the crash.[6]Born in the aftermath of the World War II and the Great Depression, thetraditionalists adopted values on formality and top-down chain of command asleaders ‘must know best’. They place great importance on respect and, at thesame time, need it. To them, title means a lot and they often make decisionsbased on their past experiences.
Similarly, the boomers highly valuerecognition, respect, and top-down policy though being more flexible with rulesand regulations. With some 80 million peers, they found themselves living acompetitive life. The boomers, therefore, work very hard and are willing tosacrifice for success.
The Xers are those raised by the boomers whoexperienced the 1980s recession, lived a difficult life, worked very hard, andended up with high rate of divorce. The Xers, seeing their parents’ familyfailure, are more skeptical and highly individual who value work-life balance.Growing during the time of remote control and the birth of the Internet, theyalso inherit a culture of instant result as they consider efficiency anddirectness very important.
Like the X’ers, the millenials value work-lifebalance but they are more comfortable with technology and are not shy to spellout their feelings. Fulbright Thailand’s experiences agree with Kersten thatmany of them are highly collaborative and optimistic. Yet we share Samuelson’sconcern that many millennials have been over-pampered by their parents andinherited a strong sense of entitlement, making them ill-prepared for a tougheconomic environment.[7]
For Thais, managing an office where fourgenerations work together is even harsher, especially for today’s leaders.While the traditionalist/baby boomer CEOs try to secure absolute command, the X’ersand the millennials at the lower level are not only struggling to voice theirideas, but also calling for their share in the decision making. If the statusquo continues, the office will soon lose talented X’ers and millennials. Worsestill, potential leaders will not be trained to succeed thetraditionalists/baby boomers when they retire, making knowledge assets andlearning available at both the organizational and individual levels go wasted.
In our Thai culture where seniority andauthority are given high priority, Thai leaders who are in the first twogenerations will find it even more challenging to cope with the changingbehaviors of younger ones. The different sets of expectations, needs andrequirements must be carefully taken up for consideration and discussions insome of the workplaces, including government agencies.
Cross Generation & Cross Culture VS Misunderstanding
All things considered, generation gap occurssimply because each generation sees and behaves from one’s ownperspective. Living within their comfortzone, they could benefit much less from the richness of diversity others areable to offer. To lessen the gap, it is necessary that each of us ‘understands’and ‘respects’ the differences. Effective face-to-face interactions and communicationmechanisms are needed.
In a different culture, we could find it hardto understand some dimensions of their thinking and behaviors. This could bedue to the fact that many times, we base the judgments on our own culturalexperiences.
Misunderstanding of cross generation, similarto cross-culture, results from the lack of communication to learn more aboutothers. Different environments and languages interpretations of generations inaddition to diverse interests, and values could potentially create a wallbetween generations and block the communication before it really starts.
For Thais in particular, a few culturaltraditions could possibly cause more crash across generations. The respect ofseniority and authority generally enables Thais to be gentle and polite.Nevertheless in some situations, it could hinder learning as the more junior inage and rank could be afraid of appearing impolite or aggressive to expresstheir thoughts. “Face” could double the obstacles when younger ones might findit hard to “tell/teach” some of the things or share some of the skills theyhave learned from their hi-tech world of connections.
Frequent cross-generation communication with seriousconsideration of a lighter touch of some Thai cultural dimensions could enableproductive deliberations, understanding and learning. It could mean challengesin pushing oneself out of his/her comfort cultural zone to interact with others.But it will certainly speed up understanding of others while recognizing one’sown self better.
It is natural to feel very attached to it, yet,this new world demands him/her to manage to get out of it in order to learn andcreate another comfort zone with people from different generations.
Technology and Exchanges as Gen Binders
Technology, which is the powerful gen gapper,could be the best gen binder. One of the American Fulbright alumni stressed theuse of social networking to connect with her grandchildren as many of her peersdo. In Thailand, the website www.happyoppy.comalso encourages people above 44 to use technology including social network by providingtutorials and support in order to create a new society for aging people and toreduce the generation gap.
Technology supports speedy two-waycommunication. It tunes us into the same channel, knowing the ‘quite similar’language and keep up with the trends. For parents, it is a magic door openingto the children’s world. It might be shocking but, at least, they will have aclue of what is going on. For senior colleagues, it is not only a bridge totheir juniors but also a useful resource for their work. In fact, in this worldof technology advancement, those with less use of technology will find itdifficult to fit in and lose touch with the present world, let alone thefuture. Once again, the Darwin’s classic theory is proven.
Thus, technology is neither an alien nor apredator. It is definitely not a boring and complicated text. A delightfulbalance would be struck when any generation focuses mainly on learning, tobecome more digital with strong base of analog experiences.
While technology is a tool to forge cross-generationcommunication, the actual physical presence to a “different world/culture” offersa real-life experience on cross-generation/cultural communication. Varioustypes of systematic exchanges with effective orientation and debriefing to meetthe needs of people of different generations could be helpful for them to learnand adjust to the multi-generation environments.
Therefore, both the young and old should taketime travelling to different places, meeting more people, listening to variety ofideas and experimenting other lifestyles. The exposure will allow them tocompare and analyze similarities and differences for increased acceptance andrespect for the differences. The battlefield of generation crash could thenturn positive as rich resources for all.
Educational Institution: A Bridge or a Brick?
Like it or not, generation crash has alreadyexisted both in the society and in the organizations. It can be more seriouswithout appropriate approaches from all those concerned – individuals, family,organization, and society. Considering that educational institution is amechanism that links all generations together, it bears responsibility to builda strong bridge across generations, harmonizing them to reach shared goals ofthe organizations, and to lead a happy life!
The myth of Ivory Tower still haunts people andit is our task to prove it wrong. Educational institution needs to ask itself,as a model organization for the society, and as an incubator of future citizens,whether or not it has measures and tools to handle generation gap/crash, in abalanced manner suitable for the world standard and Thai contexts.
In this connection, there are many questions toponder, some of which are:
Does educational institution have enough awarenessof generation gap and cultural tradition issues?
Does it embrace diversity of staff as a richresource, regardless of age and authority?
Does it involve new generation of staff in thedecision making?
Is the institution open to different ideas andpractices, being less rigid with some aspects of the Thai culture in somesituations when professionalism goes beyond seniority, authority and face?
Does it encourage equal opportunity for staffexchanges?
The more crucial questions are related to theuse of technology and here are some of the key questions for institutions toanswer:
As an incubator of future citizens, are all senioradministrators, faculty and staff computer literate?
How many have actually emailed among themselvesand with students?
Are there opportunities for cross-generationsto interact professionally, yet in a fine Thai manner?
How much does it act as a demonstration unitthat benefit from generation diversity?
These are examples of self-survey questions foreach individual educational institution. There is no grading, no failing, anddefinitely no peer competing. So far, generation diversity is not included inthe quality assurance indicators. It is up to each institution and vision ofits leaders to ‘do something’ with this not-hot-but-serious issue of generationgap – what definitely bears impacts on the long-term development of an educationalinstitution.
Technology and exchange programs are two of thetools that every educational institution already has (and boasts about!). It isthe matter of how they are used, with the clear objectives of makingcommunication across all through generations for the wealth of learning andsustainability of respective institutions.
Without efforts made now, the oldergenerations, who hold tight to the past and some cultural traditions may end upliving in this world physically with the younger as there are several otherworlds that could never become known to them!
References
Bergeron, Paul R., III. “Generation gap communication gap:dealing with workplace challenges, www.allbusiness.com/real-estate-rental-leasing/real-activities-related-to/744084-1.html, January 1, 2004 [retrieved July 20, 2010]
Dretzin,Rachel. “Growing Up Online: What we learn”, PBS.org, www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/etc/notebook.html[retrieved July 30, 2010]
Heather,Wax. “Fear of Dying v. Affordable Health Care?” Science & Religion Today, June 30, 2009, http://scienceandreligiontoday.blogspot.com[retrieved April 9, 2010]
Holson,M. Laura. “Text Generation Gap: U R 2 Old (JK)” The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09cell.html,March 9, 2008 [retrieved July 20,2010]
Kersten,Denise. “Today’s generations face new communication gaps”, USA Today, www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/workplace/communication/2002-11-15-communication-gap_x.htm,November 15, 2002 [retrieved July 20, 2010]
Nussbaum,Emily. “Say Everything”, New York Magazine, http://nymag.com/news/features/27341/,
Ronca,Debra. “Are you too old for social networking?” HowStuffWorks, http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/information/too-old-for-social-networking.htm/printable[retrieved April 9, 2010]
Samuelson,Robert J. “The Real Generation Gap: Young adults are getting slammed”,Newsweek, www.newsweek.com/2010/03/04/the-real-generation-gap.htm,March 05, 2010, [retrieved July 20,2010]
Note:
[1] Holson, M. Laura. “TextGeneration Gap: U R 2 Old (JK)” The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09cell.html,March 9, 2008 [retrieved July 20,2010]
[2] Nussbaum, Emily. “SayEverything”, New York Magazine, http://nymag.com/news/features/27341/
[3] Dretzin, Rachel.,“Growing Up Online: What we learn”, PBS.org,www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/etc/notebook.html[retrieved July 30, 2010]
[4] Kersten, Denise.,“Today’s generations face new communication gaps”, USA Today, www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/workplace/communication/2002-11-15-communication-gap_x.htm,November 15, 2002 [retrieved July 20, 2010]
[5] ibid, Samuelson,Robert J., “The Real Generation Gap: Young adults are getting slammed”,Newsweek, www.newsweek.com/2010/03/04/the-real-generation-gap.htm,March 05, 2010, [retrieved July 20,2010] , and Bergeron, Paul R., III. “Generation gap communication gap:dealing with workplace challenges, www.allbusiness.com/real-estate-rental-leasing/real-activities-related-to/744084-1.html, January 1, 2004 [retrieved July 20, 2010]
[6] Kersten, Denise.,“Today’s generations face new communication gaps
[7] Samuelson, Robert J.,“The Real Generation Gap: Young adults are getting slammed”
