“Youths in Singapore are spending more time online now than ever.” (Yahoo news, 2013) This has adversely affected youth’s social interaction within their family as they are spending less time on face-to-face social interaction. This leads to a widening of the generation gap and there is a chance that youth will be unable to interact with senior citizens in the future. (The Straits Times, 2002) Because of the increase in young people's reliance on ICT (Information and communication technology), which takes away family time and communication with the older generation, the Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) should organise large scale events to bridge the generation gap. This essay will talk about how the digital divide between grandparents and grandchildren in a family leads to a generation gap as well as evaluate the solutions taken by Singapore to bridge the generation gap.
According to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), they believe that “family is the basic building block of society.” However, the over reliance of technology by youth is hindering the “building blocks” within the family which threatens the stability of the Singapore society. According to the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), statistics show that over 95 per cent of teenagers used the Internet in 2012. Many youth use the internet to play online games, browse social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr and watch their favourite shows online. On the other hand, IDA statistics show that less than 20 per cent of the elderly, 60 years and above, used the internet. This results in youth exchanging social interaction for online satisfaction. The lack of face-to-face interaction could create stereotypes within the family, such as grandparents being frail and not techno-savvy. The differences in attitude between each other will lead to a widening of the generation gap. (Serra, College, & Barracks 1971) Hence, grandparents and grandchildren may conceive negative images of each other which will inevitably build an invisible wall within the family. This can lead to a breakdown in the family structure in Singapore.
According to the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, a Brazilian study published in 2007(as cited in Stepp, 2008), it suggests that by bringing unconnected teenagers and grandparents together, grandparents could be closer to their own grandchildren. The youth who took part in the project thought that the elderly were “not able to do anything”, impatient, callous and demanding while the elderly people within the project deemed teenagers to be disrespectful. After interacting with each other for two hours, interviews with the two groups shows that the perception of the opposite group became better. The teenagers found that the elderly were knowledgeable and admired them for working so hard to survive in the past. On the other hand, the elderly felt appreciated by the teenagers and had an enjoyable time. Therefore, by overcoming the “intergenerational barrier” and becoming familiarised with unknown elderly (Stepp 2008), it broke the invisible wall and made it easier to communicate within their own families.
In order to bridge the generation gap in Singapore, the CDC can organise large scale events to bring random grandparents and grandchildren to socially interact with one another. By doing so, this can help break the invisible wall within the family which was preventing grandparents and grandchildren from communicating. In the year 2013, a similar project, The Silver Yarn Project, was created by four students from Nanyang Technological University for the same purpose. The difference is that this project brings related grandparents and grandchildren together. This project is a “youth movement aimed at getting young people to communicate with their seniors.” (Zhuang, 2013) By communicating with their grandparents, youths form closer bonds with their grandparents and understand them better. The project was a success as it received "600 Likes on Facebook which translate to about 200,000 people reached", including roadshows at universities and an annual Instagram competition. Today, the four graduates are actively searching for more schools participate in their project. The problem they faced was a lack of funds and advertising for their movement. Hence, if the CDC is able to actively promote and organise an annual event to bring about unrelated grandparents and grandchildren to interact with one another, it may be successful in breaking the invisible wall between the two groups and hence maintain the building blocks of the family in the Singapore society.
In conclusion, to keep the generation gap as small as possible, it requires the collective effort of the families as well as government sectors such as CDC. As the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. To reduce the generation gap will not be an overnight event and it may take years of repeating the same event just to project the purpose of it. If everyone involved believes in the same purpose, slowly but surely the generation gap in Singapore will be reduce.
References
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (2012). Statistics of individual usage of computer and internet. Retrieved from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/Infocomm-Usage-Households-and-Individuals#4
Ministry of Social and Family Development. (2014, July 30). Family Protection & Welfare. Retrieved from http://app.msf.gov.sg/Policies/Strong-and-Stable-Families/Supporting-Families/Family-Protection-Welfare BUILDING BLOCKS.
Serra, R., College, A., & Barracks, C. (1971). A CONFLICT OF GENERATIONS: THE GENERATION GAP. Retrieved from http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/766107.pdf
Sim,F. (2013). S'pore youths spending more time online: study. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/s-pore-youths-spending-more-time-online--study-100333925.html
Stepp, G. (2008, October 21). Grand cultures: strengthening grandparent and grandchild ties. Retrieved from http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/grandparents-generation-gap/4742.aspx
Stepp, G. (2007, October 21). Mind the gap. Retrieved from http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/bridging-the-generation-gap/3870.aspx
Fletcher, S. “Intergenerational Dialogue to Reduce Prejudice: A Conceptual Model,”Journal of Intergenerational Relationships (Vol. 5, No. 1, 2007).
Yeo.A. (2002, March 5). Growing generation gap a concern. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.populationasia.org/Events/2002/Event_040302/news1.pdf
Zhuang. Z. (2013, August 9). Bonding across the generational divide. Today. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/bonding-across-generational-divide?page=1
According to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), they believe that “family is the basic building block of society.” However, the over reliance of technology by youth is hindering the “building blocks” within the family which threatens the stability of the Singapore society. According to the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), statistics show that over 95 per cent of teenagers used the Internet in 2012. Many youth use the internet to play online games, browse social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr and watch their favourite shows online. On the other hand, IDA statistics show that less than 20 per cent of the elderly, 60 years and above, used the internet. This results in youth exchanging social interaction for online satisfaction. The lack of face-to-face interaction could create stereotypes within the family, such as grandparents being frail and not techno-savvy. The differences in attitude between each other will lead to a widening of the generation gap. (Serra, College, & Barracks 1971) Hence, grandparents and grandchildren may conceive negative images of each other which will inevitably build an invisible wall within the family. This can lead to a breakdown in the family structure in Singapore.
According to the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, a Brazilian study published in 2007(as cited in Stepp, 2008), it suggests that by bringing unconnected teenagers and grandparents together, grandparents could be closer to their own grandchildren. The youth who took part in the project thought that the elderly were “not able to do anything”, impatient, callous and demanding while the elderly people within the project deemed teenagers to be disrespectful. After interacting with each other for two hours, interviews with the two groups shows that the perception of the opposite group became better. The teenagers found that the elderly were knowledgeable and admired them for working so hard to survive in the past. On the other hand, the elderly felt appreciated by the teenagers and had an enjoyable time. Therefore, by overcoming the “intergenerational barrier” and becoming familiarised with unknown elderly (Stepp 2008), it broke the invisible wall and made it easier to communicate within their own families.
In order to bridge the generation gap in Singapore, the CDC can organise large scale events to bring random grandparents and grandchildren to socially interact with one another. By doing so, this can help break the invisible wall within the family which was preventing grandparents and grandchildren from communicating. In the year 2013, a similar project, The Silver Yarn Project, was created by four students from Nanyang Technological University for the same purpose. The difference is that this project brings related grandparents and grandchildren together. This project is a “youth movement aimed at getting young people to communicate with their seniors.” (Zhuang, 2013) By communicating with their grandparents, youths form closer bonds with their grandparents and understand them better. The project was a success as it received "600 Likes on Facebook which translate to about 200,000 people reached", including roadshows at universities and an annual Instagram competition. Today, the four graduates are actively searching for more schools participate in their project. The problem they faced was a lack of funds and advertising for their movement. Hence, if the CDC is able to actively promote and organise an annual event to bring about unrelated grandparents and grandchildren to interact with one another, it may be successful in breaking the invisible wall between the two groups and hence maintain the building blocks of the family in the Singapore society.
In conclusion, to keep the generation gap as small as possible, it requires the collective effort of the families as well as government sectors such as CDC. As the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. To reduce the generation gap will not be an overnight event and it may take years of repeating the same event just to project the purpose of it. If everyone involved believes in the same purpose, slowly but surely the generation gap in Singapore will be reduce.
References
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (2012). Statistics of individual usage of computer and internet. Retrieved from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/Infocomm-Usage-Households-and-Individuals#4
Ministry of Social and Family Development. (2014, July 30). Family Protection & Welfare. Retrieved from http://app.msf.gov.sg/Policies/Strong-and-Stable-Families/Supporting-Families/Family-Protection-Welfare BUILDING BLOCKS.
Serra, R., College, A., & Barracks, C. (1971). A CONFLICT OF GENERATIONS: THE GENERATION GAP. Retrieved from http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/766107.pdf
Sim,F. (2013). S'pore youths spending more time online: study. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/s-pore-youths-spending-more-time-online--study-100333925.html
Stepp, G. (2008, October 21). Grand cultures: strengthening grandparent and grandchild ties. Retrieved from http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/grandparents-generation-gap/4742.aspx
Stepp, G. (2007, October 21). Mind the gap. Retrieved from http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/bridging-the-generation-gap/3870.aspx
Fletcher, S. “Intergenerational Dialogue to Reduce Prejudice: A Conceptual Model,”Journal of Intergenerational Relationships (Vol. 5, No. 1, 2007).
Yeo.A. (2002, March 5). Growing generation gap a concern. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.populationasia.org/Events/2002/Event_040302/news1.pdf
Zhuang. Z. (2013, August 9). Bonding across the generational divide. Today. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/bonding-across-generational-divide?page=1
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