Technology: A Wedge or Bridge between Baby Boomer Parents and their Gen Y Children - Essay Example

? Technology: A Wedge or Bridge between Baby Boomer Parents and their Gen Y Children? 11 November As children, they watched the horror series Chucky in Betamax format, but now, these series can be viewed online through the Internet, or bought in CD or DVD format. Generation Y has experienced large changes in technology, so they have learned to exploit it quite effortlessly. However, they have become quite dependent on technology to conduct significant tasks and to express their individuality (Kumar & Lim, 2008, p.570). Baby Boomers are more open to technology than older generations, but they tend to remain traditional in how they interact with others, especially their families (Kumar & Lim, 2008, p.570). Technology has formed a generation gap, or symbolically, a technological wedge, between Baby Boomers and their Gen Y children. This problem has not been fully addressed yet because some people are taking for granted how technology negatively affects their families. These generations must find ways to bridge this gap without necessarily contradicting their interests and preferences in life. Without resolving this gap, generation clashes can result to family conflicts and unhappiness. Gen Y children and Baby Boomer parents can use technology as a bridge that can strengthen family ties through using it to develop better learning and communication strategies. Gen Y children use technology to do multitasking, while Baby Boomer parents employ technology to supplement their activities, but most of the latter prefer doing things the traditional way, and this difference in how technology is used can lead to a strong communication gap between them. Gen Y children depend on technology to do several tasks at the same time, which makes them great multitaskers (Cekada, 2012, p.41), while Baby Boomers do not like doing many things altogether (Cekada, 2012, p.43). Baby Boomers clash with their children who prefer finishing tasks their way, while the former want them to do things the way they used to. Because of these differences in how they see their responsibilities, Gen Y children may overlook that their parents do tasks in a different way, thereby making them impatient in dealing with the latter. Gen Y people tend to expect “immediate responses,” while their parents may want to talk things through, or to demand their own responses in their own time and terms (Cekada, 2012, p.42). Instead of achieving clear communication, the result is miscommunication because of conflicting communication expectations. Because of these problems, Gen Y children should not expect their parents to speak and act the way they do and the same goes for the latter, and instead, they should set aside time doing family activities that they can both enjoy to strengthen their ties. If Baby Boomers see cellular phones for calling than data services, for instance, Gen Y children can help them use smartphones, where they can maximize their data services for their communication needs (Kumar & Lim, 2008, p.570). Some might say that old dogs cannot learn new tricks, but this is not true, and one proof is that many Baby Boomers use the Internet and cellular phones more enthusiastically compared to older generations (Kumar & Lim, 2008, p.570). The main proposal is using technology to improve family relationships, in the midst of rapid technological changes and changing economic and social values. Gen Y children easily learn and interact through technology, while Baby Boomers often learn through traditional educational settings, and these differences make the latter resistant to using technology as a main part of their interactions. For Baby Boomers, experience and face-to-face interactions are sources of learning, while Gen Y tends to see technology as a dependable source of knowledge and interaction (Cekada, 2012, p.42). Gen Y children should ease on expecting their parents to see technology as a reliable source of information, when in reality, it contains false knowledge too, and it presents risks for financial transactions. They should consider the reality that technology is not flawless and their parents are also right to believe in the power of traditional interaction methods. Furthermore, Baby Boomers can have a hard time seeing that technology can replace common services and interactions in their lives and this thinking can make them feel that their children are not respecting them because the latter use too much technology in interacting with them. Eastman and Liu (2012) defined Baby Boomers as: “… independent and individualistic with strong interests in self-fulfillment and personal growth” (p.94). If Baby Boomers see technology as not related to personal growth, then they will not see it as equal to their usual learning and interaction ways. Conflict arises when Gen Y rewrite interaction rules and norms, while Baby Boomers enforce traditional communication norms. Kumar and Lim (2008) noted from their review of literature that: “Gen Y-ers use mobile phones as an important means to maintain peer relations” (p.570). They send text messages more than their parents, which they think are enough to tell them how they are and what they are doing. Baby Boomers prefer calls to text messages, which conflicts with what their children expect as good communication already (Kumar & Lim, 2008, p.570). These parents may not want to depend too much on text messaging, not only because it can take longer than simply calling their children, but also because they are used to voice messages than text messages to interact with others. As a result, these generations might think that the other is not sensitive to their own communication needs, even when they both want to stay connected. By staying in their own comfort zones, however, they are not giving each other the opportunity to see their views on technology in a better light. Technology provides an attitude of work-to-live for Gen Y children, while their parents have a mindset of live-to-work, which is why it is important for the both of them to learn how to respect each other’s values and preferences, without necessarily allowing technology to replace their most fundamental connections as a family. Gen Y people work because they want to live more (Cekada, 2012, p.43). In other words, they work hard, but they play harder. Baby Boomers have strong work ethics that help them think of living as more of working (Cekada, 2012, p.43). They might see their children as not working enough, or lazier, because of their dependence on technology, while the latter might see their parents as being old-fashioned and outdated. In addition, Gen Y children experienced an intense exposure to advertisements, which makes them more coddled than their Baby Boomer parents. Schlosser (2012) described the “growth in children’s advertising” that aimed to boost “current” and “future” consumption (p.520). With “cradle-to-grave” advertising strategies bombarding them every day, Gen Y has become more status-driven than the Baby Boomer generation. Indeed, Gen Y children are more pluralistic in terms of experiences, but in a way, they preserve status differences through their sense of identity. Gen Y can work with different races, ages, and genders more comfortably than Baby Boomers, but it does not mean that strong class differences are erased. In their study on digital consumption patterns of the youth, Watkins (2012) noted that the educated middle class preferred Facebook over MySpace, while low-income working class children enjoyed the latter. Eastman and Liu (2012) affirmed the need for status among Gen Y, when they found from their study that: “The average level of status consumption was highest for Generation Y followed by Generation X and then Baby Boomers” (p.99). By being status and luxury-driven, Gen Y may be unconsciously using technology as a wedge between them and their parents. Gen Y and Baby Boomers must learn to respect each other’s technology and communication preferences. Gen Y should learn to be more considerate of their parents’ lifestyles, while the latter should try learning to use technology for the benefit their families. “Understanding” and not “bias” will improve their relationship (Cekada, 2012, p.42). Together, they can learn how technology can help them strengthen their relationships. Technology should not be a detriment to quality family bonding. Gen Y children must teach their parents to use it, so that they can interact more with one another. Baby Boomers should learn to exploit technology, in order to enhance family relations, especially now that Gen Y children are busy with multitasking roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, Generation Y should not treat technology as something that can fully replace intimate communication strategies, so that they will not have extreme conflict with their parents. Family is still family, and spending more time with each other can and learning from one another can be the best way to preserve family ties. References Cekada, T.L. (2012). Training a multigenerational workforce. Professional Safety, 57 (3), 40-44. Eastman, J.K., & Liu, J. (2012). The impact of generational cohorts on status consumption: An exploratory look at generational cohort and demographics on status consumption. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 29 (2), 93-102. Kumar, A., & Lim, H. (2008). Age differences in mobile service perceptions: Comparison of Generation Y and Baby Boomers. Journal of Services Marketing, 22 (7), 568-577. Schlosser, E. (2012). Kid kustomers. In S.Greene & A. Lidinsky (Eds.), From inquiry to academic writing: A text and reader (2nd ed.) (pp. 519-527). Boston: Bedford’s/St. Martin’s. Watkins, S.C. (2012). From the young and the digital. In S.Greene & A. Lidinsky (Eds.), From inquiry to academic writing: A text and reader (2nd ed.) (pp. 505-515). Boston: Bedford’s/St. Martin’s. Read More