What You Do And Don’t Have In Common With Your Grandmother?
The major differences between Silent Generation and Generation Z
In this story, I want to compare two different generations and make clear all the things that they have or don’t have in common. I decided to concentrate on two different generations in this text — The Silent Generation and Generation Z. I have chosen exactly these two generations because I thought that these two will differ enough from each other to be interesting topics to tell about. I was born in 2003, so I am Generation Z and my grandmother Elena was born in 1935, so she is The Silent Generation. I think that this relation may not be the same for everyone, and for many people from Z Generation, The Silent generation people will be grand-grand-mothers or -fathers. However, I am also going to make examples in this essay according to my life or to my grandmother’s life.
The Second World War was started in 1939 and was finished in 1945. The Silent Generation took place mostly at a war-time, 1925–1945, and was called so because of the war, thousands of people were killed and thousands had to escape into inner lands from the coming war. The time was crazy and so different that we can not even imagine it, but people from The Silent Generation can — they have survived through it and they are still alive, but they remember the war, they remember the fear and terror that they had to overcome, they remember famines and deaths and many other not so pleasing things, that many people prefer not to even think about. If I take my gran-mother as an example, I can say that she was a 6-years old child when the Second World War started, at the beginning of the war — she with her brother and mother had to leave their hometown, escape to a small village near and spend several years there until the War was finished. Her father was killed by Nazis and he has never returned home.
However, on the flip side of the coin there they also have different strengths compared with other generations. Because of the war their personality was shaped to fit the times they were living in — they became mentally strong people and they have several specific characteristics that make them stand out. They are thrifty, respectful, loyal, and determined. They know what they want to have or do and work for it, but they also respect and listen to other people and value good education, friendship, and family. I can take my grandmother and -father as an example of valuing a good education — my grandmother traveled from a small town to get a medical degree and my grandfather traveled across the whole country, from his hometown to study engineering. When it comes to family, they usually had their children at a young age and raised them in a traditional way, however, they always did what was better for their children even if that was against all the odds.
Now let us move on and talk a bit about Generation Z. This generation starts in 1995 and ends in 2012. Surprisingly, both generations have many things in common. First of all, Generation Z, as well as the Silent generation know how to survive when the family budget is tight because both of the groups lived in not so stable time of economics, there were different crises in the world then. That is why they know how to save money and work hard.
The values of family and hard work are important for both generations, they seek any job if they want to get money and they study hard to get a job that they exactly want to have. Generation Z is also very interested in science; statistics say that Generation Z values education a lot. Values, in general, are very important to the Z generation, as well as it was to the Silent one. Both generations value making stuff as well. They also enjoy making things by hand: baking, sewing, or building. People from both generations are optimistic and are sure that the glass is half-full.
That was about similarities, but when it comes to differences, the story is also different.
Firstly, I would like to mention that Generation Z is undoubtedly the generation of technology. However, it is still not the same as The Generation Alpha (2012-), because in this case, the technology has not appeared immediately, but gradually, step by step, during several years, when The Generation Alpha was born, most of the technology already appeared and was ready to be used. However, Generation Z could follow the rising hi-tech progress and compare digital and non-digital lives. If I take myself as an example, I can say that I did not have a smartphone until age 10, the computer that we had back then was very simple and we were using DVDs:s, so my generation could see and follow the progress of IT and other high-tech technologies in real life. One of the additional things that appeared with technology were new work opportunities. In the early 21:st century such jobs as bloggers or vloggers appeared. Generally speaking, it became possible to earn money online.
Many pieces of research were done about health and medicine. Scientists say that Generation Z smokes less and lives healthier compared with many other generations, including the Silent one. Another interesting medicine-related thing that has happened to my generation is, of course, the well-known COVID-19. It has occupied Earth for several years and billions were killed and others had to find a way to cope with this strange situation. Homeschooling was one of the ways that were invented and widely used around the world. During the pandemic, it was not possible to go to school in order not to get infected or not to spread the virus, homeschooling was a good option, I would even say a perfect option to avoid social contacts.
In conclusion, I would like to say that both generations have several things in common, but they are also very different from each other at the same time. I think that younger generations should find good things in previous times and learn from past generations. When it comes to me, I can say that I have spent a lot of time with my grandmother as a child and I have learned a lot of things from her. I remember that she always told me stories about the war and her life as a child when I asked her about that. However, I also think good societies will always go toward progress and will not focus oneselves just on the past and that is also fine.
