Tomorrow’s Voters, Today’s Voices - Part 4 - Bridging the gap
Bridging the generational divide in political perspectives.
Generational divides in politics are nothing new, but for a group of tenth graders at Lenoir County Early College High School, the gap between their views and those of older generations feels particularly personal. During a roundtable discussion led by civics teacher Dr. Travis Towne, ten students opened up about how these differences shape their conversations with family members, influence their own beliefs, and highlight the need for mutual understanding.
For some students, the generational gap often comes to the forefront in family discussions. Cassidy Hayes shared how her conversations with her grandparents can sometimes feel contentious.
“I generally do think there's a generational gap because I talk about politics with my grandfather and grandmother sometimes,” she said. “They have way different opinions, and if they said them to someone else, it might actually hurt their feelings. What they think is good now might not be helpful for me in my future or for what I’m going to do for the next generation.”
Others noticed how this divide is rooted in contrasting focuses between age groups. Destiny Hernandez Salaiss believes older generations are more tied to the past.
“I think there’s definitely a generational gap,” she explained. “Older generations are more stuck on world events and things that happened in the past. The youth now has different world problems and situations going on, so instead of focusing on the past, we focus on what’s happening now and how to better those things.”
Kaylee Taylor observed that younger generations are more willing to engage with diverse perspectives
“Younger people like my age are more open to talking about problems and different viewpoints,” she said. “Older people, like my grandparents, are very much stuck on their opinions of what they think is right. But I’ve talked to a lot of people, especially in civics class, and just having conversations and listening to other viewpoints opens up a lot of ideas that I wouldn’t have thought about.”
Madison Johnson connected her grandparents’ opinions to the events they lived through, acknowledging that their personal history shaped their outlook
“At least for my grandparents, I know that my grandfather, he was in Vietnam, and he has a different viewpoint because he’s lived through all that history,” she shared. “My opinion will always be different from his because I didn’t grow up in it or see it the way he did. I think there is definitely an age gap.”
Tradition also plays a significant role in shaping older generations’ perspectives, according to Hernandez Salaiss.
“The older generation has more traditional views,” she said. “The youth now has wider views on everything. It’s not stuck to religious bases and other traditional things that I feel the older generation is stuck with.”
For Macy Schmidt, the gap is defined by a difference in priorities.
“The older generation’s views are shaped by what they’ve been through,” she explained, “while the youth’s views are shaped more on the future than the now or the past.”
Beyond differing priorities, Hernandez Salaiss highlighted the stereotypes that young people often face from older generations.
“I feel like the older generation thinks we’re just kids on social media, lazy, or too immature to have these conversations, but we’re not,” she said. “Social media actually gives us more information about things, and we know a lot about what’s going on in the world. Sometimes, seeing it all is scary, so we need political leaders to clarify things for us and talk directly to the youth.”
Despite the differences, the students saw potential for understanding and growth across generations.
Conversations, they said, can bridge the gap and foster mutual learning. As Hernandez Salaiss summarized, “The youth now has different world problems and situations, and instead of focusing on the past, we focus on what’s happening now to better those things.”
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