OLD VERSUS YOUNG
- THE GENERATION GAP
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| Can the older generation empathise
with today's teens? |
The youth of today - out of control
trouble makers or simply misunderstood? The older generation samples
life from a teenage point of view and vice versa.
Growing up is never easy and the teenag
e years are always
particularly fraught. Puberty, pimples and parents are a source of constant
embarrassment whilst life for enthusiastic gardening grandparents seems
like a breeze.
But step over to the other side of the fence and you get
a whole new perspective.
The older generation know all to well about the trials
of teenage life having experienced the same fundamental embarrassments.
But when they went through puberty things were a little different.
When a Big Mac meant an oversized raincoat聟
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| The older generation are in agreement, the one thing today's youth
lack is 'discipline'! |
Whilst today's education system encourages individuality,
and expression of opinion, the education system of the 40s and 50s put
a firm emphasis on discipline and uniformity.
Teachers were highly respected - and most often than not
- feared individuals. Answering back was unheard of and all work was completed
with the help of a fountain pen and paper.
The internet, Playstations and mobile phones were fictitious
items to be found alongside flying cars, talking robots and other such
imaginings.
With so many differences - can the two generations ever
understand each other? Inside Out, with a little help from technology,
finds out.
Undercover teens
Inside Out commandeered a willing bunch of Tunbridge Wells'
teenagers to go undercover to give the older generation a taste of teenage
life in 2003.
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| "It's scary being an old person, I hate it, it's totally dreadful. You can't do
anything." |
| Daz |
A secret camera captures their forays to a newsagents
and of course the typical teenage haunt - a fast food restaurant.
And whilst the older generation is experiencing teenage
life on screen, 15 year old Daz is being made up to look and feel like
an old man.
Whilst make-up artist Cat Crawford takes care of Daz's
appearance, Dr Finnbarr Martin, a consultant geriartrician fits a neck
collar, arm weights and bleared glasses to help Daz to experience the
reality of getting old.
Scrutiny
The hidden camera catches the teenagers as they head into
a newsagents for sweets. The shop owner is wary of their antics and the
spraying of an aerosol can proves the final straw.
The shop owner spots the act on CCTV and the teenagers
are asked to leave.
The older generation are not impressed.
"These kids are pretty dreadful. They're rude and
just seeing how far they can go," agree the older generation.
"They're showing off to each other, they're arrogant
and they're letting themselves down frankly."
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| As
a large group the teenagers can seem quite imposing |
So when the group journey to another newsagents for a
second attempt, it comes as no surprise to our watchers that there is
a sign insisting they go in two at a time.
A rule the teenagers find humiliating and our youth worker
can see why.
"I think at the end of the day you have to remember
that they are just children," explains the youth worker. "Children
growing into adolescents, but they are going to behave like children."
Whilst the teenagers get into bother in the fast food
restaurant's toilets, Daz struggles to make his way along the street as
an elderly man - it proves quite an eye opening experience.
Face to face
The 'day in the life' draws to a close, but have either
generation learnt anything about the other?
The older generation are certainly not impressed with
some of the teenagers' behaviour, whilst the teenagers feel unfairly treated.
But despite their differences, there is no animosity.
It seems the generations may never fully understand each
other, but maybe that's the way it should be. After all, things could
turn nasty if granddad was always hogging the Playstation! | 
