Talk:Generation gap

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Generation Jones fills the gap between Boomers and Xers, Baby Busters is a synonym for Generation X. For more, see discussion pages for Baby Busters and Generation Jones. 21st century Susan 15:07, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

what effects of generation gap we can see in our society ? HAH! Haven't you got parents? You sure can't be one and ask that!FrankB

I came here do spot of copy editing, but this srticle appears to be well written as it is. Any thoughts?Amists 15:26, 17 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Amists. The article looks pretty well written. But do we need the reference to the novel in the end. Looks like somebody is using wikipedia to promote the novel. I think that reference should be removed. Any comments? --Bolasanibk 09:50, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This line is word for word identical with the cited reference(1)! when older and younger people do not understand each other because of their different experiences, opinions, habits and behaviour: someone needs to vet the whole article, and I'm nested way too deep right now. FrankB 09:44, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

• For the record, the article content looks to be spot on, IMHO (aged 51), the extant template (references) isn't needed for such a definition article. It's a waste of prioritization. FrankB 09:44, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I dont feel it should be removed at all, we might need more refrences though..that would be nice

Not to burst anyones bubble but Gen X and Baby Boomers possess no gap other than Generation Jones, and this was not coming out from the 80s - which was instead the birth of the gap between X and the newer unfounded "Y" generation, this gap being the MTV Generation which has more similarities with the original Lost Generation due to the problems and social issues both have begun to face currently. Piecraft 13:55, 25 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand what you're trying to say here. Baby Boomers and X have one of the largest gaps in history, as Generation X was the first to grow up with video games and computers in schools. There is very little gap between X and Y, which is the origin of the use of letters (Y simply follows X). Da9iel (talk) 11:53, 23 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

This article needs a lot of cleanup. I almost want to nominate it for deletion (due to the childlike typos and grammar found in the bulk of this stub), but there's a little voice in the back of my mind that suggests this article could gain some references, prose, and eventually GA/FA status. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.111.40.194 (talk) 23:28, 30 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I came to this article by following a link from

You have one reference for all this information...looks like original research to me. Either come up with some verifiable sources or cut it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.110.43.95 (talk) 23:51, 14 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Original research

A year later, and apparently not much improvement. This article seems pretty well written, but I am also concerned that the majority of it is

The article doesn't seem to have received recent revisions. Who is responsible for working on it or deleting it? The topic could be developed. Prof2long (talk) 10:09, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

[[ == From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The generation gap is a popular term used to describe big differences between people of a younger generation and their elders. This can be defined as occurring "when older and younger people do not understand each other because of their different experiences, opinions, habits and behavior". The term first came into prominence in Western countries during the 1960s and described the cultural differences between the young and their parents. Although some generational differences have existed throughout history, during this era differences between the two generations grew significantly in comparison to previous times, particularly with respect to such matters as musical tastes, fashion, culture and politics. This may have been magnified by the unprecedented size of the young generation, which gave it unprecedented power, and willingness to rebel against societal norms. [edit] 1920s

During what was known as the 'Roaring Twenties' a large gap occurred due to the older generation having just fought in the war finding it inappropriate that the younger were out at dance halls and listening to jazz music. Women in particular behaved much differently from their mothers, dressing up in drastically different clothing (the "flapper" image), smoking (which at the time was like a sport for men, so many parents thought female smokers were innapropriate, and engaging in pre-marital sex, all of which discomforted older generations.

[edit] 1950s Teenagers prior to World War II were expected to take life seriously. Young males were expected to join the military and/or go out and get a job in order to help bring in money for their family. Young females were taught how to take care of the household and prepare themselves to be dutiful wives and take care of children. Also, teenagers in the late 1930s had very little economic freedom, independence, and input into decision-making.

In the 1950s, this changed. The United States emerged from the War the most powerful and affluent nation in the world. The economy picked up and teenagers began experiencing a great deal of economic freedom and independence. The "American Dream" was born, but at the same time there was a fear of losing America's prosperity and security. The focus for much of the fear over what America was becoming was youth—it was an adult obsession and shared assumption that young people lacked the discipline and get-up-and-go that had made America great.

As the '40s ended and the '50s emerged, marked differences between teenagers and parents began to emerge. From a transformation of the dating system (going steady and early marriage became the norm, as opposed to the "rating and dating" trend that was fashionable before the war), to the new medium of television gaining widespread popularity and often portraying teenagers as juvenile delinquents. 'JDs' followed the standard black leather and denim jeans look set by Marlon Brando in the 1953 film The Wild One. The widespread adoption of rock and roll also helped foster differences between parents and teenagers. Rock was loud, rhythmic, and full of energy. Adults didn't get it and even FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover called the new music "a corrupting influence".[1] Holden Caulfield, the hero of J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, was a literary embodiment of teenage angst and alienation further fueling adults' perception of teens as rebels.

[edit] 1960s The War in Southeast Asia and the rise of counter-culture hippies in the mid and late 1960s with diverging opinions on the draft and the military involvement in Vietnam as well as the use of drugs were significant points of the generation gap of this era. The cover of Mad Magazine No. 129 by artist Norman Mingo, dated September 1969, showed a split Alfred E. Neuman, the "old" Alfred on the left wearing a "My Country: Right or Wrong" lapel button, and the "young" long-haired Alfred on the right with a "Make Love Not War" button, and the cover statement "MAD Widens the Generation Gap."[2]

[edit] 1980s When heavy metal music gained mainstream popularity in the 1980s, music became a touchpoint for the generation gap between the decade's parents, many of whom had been teenagers in the '50s, and the younger generation. The 1980s saw Tipper Gore, wife of Democratic Presidential nominee Al Gore, launch a crusade against raunchy and violent rock lyrics, and heavy metal was one of her main targets.

[edit] 2000s In the decade, differences in culture over what should be the sexual norm, as well as new technology, political differences, workplace behavior, age of consent, age of responsibilty, the education system, and many other issues, politcal, cultural, and generational, has produced a generation gap between Generation Y and thier Baby Boomer parents. However, many Baby Boomers grew up during the late 1960s (see above), and can relate to their young offspring better than their parents related to them. Nevertheless, the portrayal of teenagers in popular reality television channels, like MTV, has caused concern for parents and a sense of alienation amongst teens and young adults of today. The 2008 Presidential Election, while not as divisive, also highlights the differences amongst these two generations, with most of Generation Y thinking the race, gender, or sexual orientation of a person to be insignificant. Their Baby Boomer parents, while also sharing some of these beliefs, grew up with very different expectations about these three controversal subjects, and saw how complicated it was to get along, remembering the violence of the protests of 1967 and 1968.

Other things, such as technology like cell phones and the rise in car crashes amongs the young have led parents to believe that their kids are too distracted for their own good.

[edit] Cultural effects

This section does not cite any references or sources.

Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008)

A seeming generation gap may be present between different generations as well. Starting with the fear of childbirth, people may learn or otherwise impart a fear of children, fear of youth, and/or fear of elderly people. Whether favoring the perspective of adults or actually solely allowing the perspective of adults, society may seem to also foster gerontocracy, which pits elderly people against children, youth and adults, as well.[citation needed]

The largest generation gap, though, separated those born after 1940 from those born before 1935. It was summarized in 1967 with the slogan among the young: "Don't trust anyone over 30." As this gap moved through the decades, it separated those who appreciated rock music from those who did not, and the computer literate from the illiterate. Those on the old side of the gap could not wait to enlist in the military and fight World War II or the Korean War, while the young challenged the military draft during the Vietnam War.

Despite the radical changes in the electronic and technological environment in the last several decades, a defined gap does not separate today's generations as it did in the sixties and seventies. The left/right political delineations in the U.S. at the present tend to mimic the generation gap of the sixties, as rich elders tend to be right-wing, and working youngsters tend to be left-wing.[citation needed] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.208.190.148 (talk) 19:32, 4 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Any expert--demographer, sociologist, or other expert--discussing the current generation gaps automatically includes GenJones. Why wouldn't Wiki do the same, since the goal is for Wiki readers to be given an accurate depiction of current thinking?

The concept and name “Generation Jones” has achieved widespread acceptance and usage, especially in the last year or so. The Associated Press’ annual Trend Report chose The Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. Many very influential experts, pundits, and analysts have publicly supported the GenJones constructs, from media outlets including The New York Times, Newsweek, NBC, Time Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, etc. Books about generations now almost always automatically treat GenJones as a full bona fide generation.

If interested in exploring some of the major support GenJones has gotten, you may want to check some of these links out…

This 6 minute video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ta_Du5K0jk) features over 20 top pundits expressing support for GenJones, including : David Brooks (New York Times) Karen Tumulty (Time Magazine) Dick Morris (Political Advisor) Roland Martin (CNN) Jeff Greenfield (CBS) Michael Steele (Chairman, GOPAC) Doyle McManus ( Los Angeles Times) Chris Van Hollen (Chairman, DCCC) Stuart Rothenberg (Roll Call) Karen Brown (CBS) Michael Barone (U.S. News & World Report) Juan Williams (Fox News Channel) Howard Wolfson (Political Advisor) Susan Page ( USA Today) Mel Martinez (U.S. Senator [R-Florida]) Lynn Sweet ( Chicago Sun-Times) Bill Press (Fox News Channel) Carl Leubsdorf ( Dallas Morning News) Al Sharpton (Activist, Minister)

Here is a full page column about GenJones by Jonathan Alter in Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/id/107583

Here is a column about GenJones by Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Clarence Page in The Chicago Tribune: http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/oct/22/news/chi-oped1022pageoct22 And here is video of Clarence Page bringing up GenJones on NBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uZSiKd0B54

All of the above are recent (in the last year or so,) and there are many more recent ones, as well as many more from earlier years. You can find many more on this page: http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html ,as well as in the reference section of the Generation Jones article, as well as in the talk pages of the various generation pages on Wikipedia, as well as many thousands of GenJones references on Google.

If you for any reason want to revert this edit, let's please avoid an edit war and discuss possible changes here on the talk page; please give detailed and sourced reasons why you think this edit should be reverted. Thank you.TreadingWater (talk) 23:12, 2 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"From a transformation of the dating system (going steady and early marriage became the norm, as opposed to the "rating and dating" trend that was fashionable before the war), to new medium of television gaining widespread popularity and often portraying teenagers as juvenile delinquents. 'JDs' followed the standard black, The War in Southeast Asia, and the rise of counter-culture hippies during the mid and late 1960s with diverging opinions about the draft and military involvement in Vietnam as well as the use of drugs were significant topics of the generation gap of this era."

I think I can see what that sentence is trying to say, but it's so poorly written it's impossible to follow. Would anyone care to rewrite it? Robofish (talk) 14:09, 30 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It was vandalized a number of times. Going back through the history there was a long lead in. I partly restored it. Here's what I left out.

Teenagers prior to World War II were expected to take life seriously. Young males were expected to join the military and/or go out and get a job in order to help bring in money for their family. Young females were taught how to take care of the household and prepare themselves to be a dutiful wife and take care of children. Also, teenagers in the late 1930s had very little economic freedom, independence, and input into decision.

In the 1950s, this changed. The United States emerged from the War the most powerful and affluent nation in the world. The economy picked up and teenagers began experiencing a great deal of economic freedom and independence. The "American Dream" was born, but at the same time there was a fear of losing America's prosperity and security. The focus for much of the fear over what America was becoming was youth - it was an adult obsession and shared assumption that young people lacked the discipline and get-up-and-go that had made America great.

--Quartet 23:10, 9 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

My language class is having my group add to a wiki article that relates to language. Our group wants to study the generational language gap. Over the next few weeks we will be trying to add to this article, probably 3-6 paragraphs. We are will to take any constructive criticisms and would appreciate and editing done to what we write. Kulosle (talk) 04:01, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There is a new a major generation gap going on now. It involves the Internet. Here is a video that details the subject. It is at this URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/.

Anonymous71.164.209.8 (talk) 04:14, 27 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The Internet is not an example of a generation gap, it's an example of how the gaps of previous generations no longer exist. Today we all share the same media and thought space, meaning adults have _greater_ access to their kids than ever before. Not to mention the fact that adults have been online longer than their kids.

Da9iel (talk) 11:31, 23 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Most of that section might do better in an article about the postwar history of the USA. There is very little discussion of the generation gaps in it! 99.108.47.68 (talk) 04:27, 26 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, the vast majority of this article is totally off-topic. This is basically a pop-sociology/history of the US in the 1960s. The majority seems to have been added last February/March by an anonymous user. The user seems to have a fairly checkered history of using non-sourced/copyvio materials so I'm inclined to axe the whole section without moving it to other articles. The article needs a major clean-up even beside the issue of off-topic inclusions. Any objections? Peregrine981 (talk) 13:55, 9 February 2015 (UTC) For the record, the user is here: Special:Contributions/50.157.103.28 Peregrine981 (talk) 13:56, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Under the heading "Technological Influences", a sleep study is used as an example. Different age groups put different emphasis on their sleep requirements, based on their home and work requirements, it has nothing to do with a generation gap. The older the person, the more responsibilities and people depending on them, and therefore the greater requirement for sleep. A married adult with children isn't going to be texting his friends from work every night before bed, esp. when performing well at work is essential to the entire family. If you want to include tech. use, look up ownership rates: adults own more personal computers and laptops, and young people own more phones.

Da9iel (talk) 11:40, 23 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

We are way behind here. While my experience with Mellineals seems to verify the general findings of the main article, there needs to be more study done into attitudes between generations, and what psychological results we are seeing amongst Melinneals, as well as all generations. With the potential of Wikipedia, these articles should be more comprehensive. Just my thoughts.

70.181.230.61 (talk) 20:13, 14 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

What does the article (or section) do well? I find the article very interesting. I like the way the author distributed the article information, the different sections he has chosen to write about and the amount of information he includes in each of them. I also think, the article is well written and easy to understand, what makes it more appealing to read through it. It has a neutral point of view and there are no signs of personal opinions.

What changes would you suggest overall? I will make a format change on the sections and categorize Generational Consciousness, Intergenerational living and Demographics at the same level of Distinguishing generation gap. I also will add a little bit more information on the Lead Section, so the audience get a more general idea of the article.

The sources need to be more trustworthy and come from scholar resources is possible. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ana Estrada (talk • contribs) 20:55, 26 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I also think it is important to include images/graphs in the articles. Maybe you can find relevant graphs to include or some pictures from different generations; something that makes the article friendlier. I will also include more information about the social effects of the generational gaps.

What is the most important thing that the author could do to improve his/her contribution? Add more information on the Lead Section and some graphics to the article, so it is more appealing to the audience.

Did you glean anything from your classmate's work that could be applicable to your own? If so, let him/her know! I like the way you structure your article and you did a good work citing important concepts! I definitely have to do that in mine! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ana Estrada (talk • contribs) 20:53, 26 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

This article is almost entirely

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The article is a stub and should show the cycle of every generation gap since the early 20th century. The Lost Generation's more liberal turn after Worl War I, the Greatest Generation's demonization of war during WWII and opposition against white supremacist groups, the Silent Generation's questioning the racial and sexual segregation of the 50s, the Baby Boomers' freedom of expression and so forth. Therefore the article needs to be expanded.--2001:8003:8560:3D00:F814:6996:5CDA:D0E (talk) 14:03, 22 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 17 April 2023 and 17 July 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): CDSFortin (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by CDSFortin (talk) 16:52, 3 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I think this article has a lot of potential. Although there may be some confusing spots and missing information, with a few edits it could be a great source of information. In the Lead it mentions beliefs and politics but then does not address either in the article itself, these points could be added in. For the topics that are talked about they could use more information that is applicable and more recent sources since the most recent one is from 2013. I don't think it should be taken off; more effort needs to go into making it better. CDSFortin (talk) 15:14, 5 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]