Eman Sakina

Change is an inevitable component of life, and drastic and dynamic changes occur over time. This is due to the fact that society must adapt to changing times and not remain stagnant. However, the 21 century is a time when tremendous changes are faster and throws up many challenges, the generation gap being one of those. 

Generation gap is a term referring to the difference between the younger generation and their elders. It is the difference between parents and children regarding culture, fashion, and dressing, younger generation's ideological, cultural, and social disconnection, as well as disagreements in views and existing systems that tend to create a chasm between children and their parents. This is most common between children and their parents, but it can also occur between teachers and students; an older employer and a younger employee. And sometimes, this generation gap affects the relationship of two generations due to conflict in their thinking and can be sometimes bad for the people living in the same house.

It is very important to understand that family as a unit traditionally was a joint family with a strong system of values and culture being built in the children by the elders of the family. In the modern era, the families are nuclear units with parents engaged in their work targets to meet the rising economic demands and standard of living. Thus, the children do not develop emotional bonds with their parents. Exposure to cutting-edge technology has once again created a division between the tech-savvy and non-tech-savvy generations, i.e children and parents. As a result, the socialization agencies are always changing. In many circumstances, children's friends become more important than their parents. Be it sports, studies or any other situation, youngsters are only getting attracted and obedient to their peer groups and not parents, elders or teachers.

The introduction of social media has proved a boon to many fields for no doubt but it’s also spoiling today’s youth too. They spend their maximum time sitting in front of the laptop or their smartphones, surfing the internet or chatting and exploring different sites and platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc. The children are customized to a comfortable life since their childhood and are unable to view the hardships of life. They do not understand the pain their grandparents underwent to earn a degree and daily bread. They know how to operate a laptop and a system by using key commands and innovative software but do not know the dedication involved in the development of such necessary gadgets. 

Even younger children are getting addicted to this by seeing their elders doing this. The whole day they keep playing online games which are directly affecting their physical and mental health. The generation gap is very strong and can lead to a lot of negative consequences. The parents feel constant stress and anxiety about being unable to understand their kids properly. The feeling of being neglected develops in the elders. There is also inferiority in terms of understanding technology. The younger generation, on the other hand, is getting more and more disconnected from the cultural and traditional knowledge which has been passed on from one generation to another. 

• Solutions:
  
• Parents and children must spend some time together regularly and they should try to understand each other.
  
• Proper guidance for children from elders.
  
• In-spite of fast-growing culture, children must try to understand their elder’s words as they already passed their age. And the young generation must know that parents always make us go through the correct path.
  
• Parents must try to understand that the present world is not the same as it was 20 years ago. They must give enough freedom to their children.
  
• Joint families are also the solution as the relationship between children and their grandparents is very effective in bridging the generation gap.
  
• Communicating and being friendly with each other, the younger generation and their elders will not suffer from the Generation gap. 
  
• Both the parties should often discuss openly their childhood and the funny and sad incidents that took place during their childhood days. This activity not only creates bondage but also opens the doors for understanding. The two parties can understand the lifestyle of each other. Knowing the childhood of each other helps the parties understand the physiological patterns formed by each other also.
  
• Both the parties should not develop a very high feeling about themselves. They should understand that they both have their limitations since they are human beings. They should understand that they both depend upon each other at some point or the other.
  
• Both the parties should purposely spend time with each other whenever they are free. This activity creates emotional bondage very quickly.
  
  

If both the parties are interested in the topic of spirituality then the formula works wonderfully because both parties require spirituality in life to create peace. There are no technical solutions to resolve this knotty problem. If we want to resolve the problem and be at peace then both parties must be willing to solve the problem. If the party is unable to accept the changes then the other party should comprise to a greater extent which may not be possible.

Realization and a high level of understanding are some of the optimal solutions to combat the problem.

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Each and every person, whether of any age, has their own area of interest with different morals and values. It is now our own responsibility that how much we are involved in it with making a balance between our personal and social life that is also as much important as any other thing in life. People of old age have their own experience in life and it is the responsibility of the new generation to learn the essence of life from the old generation.