Elijah Salem

ENG 201

10/16/20

Communication Issues

When I submit this assignment, I understand that it will be automatically checked for plagiarism.

As I add my name to our class Integrity Pledge, I agree to submit only my own original work,

not composed, edited or revised by anyone or anything else. If I do not add my name to the

pledge, my assignment will not be evaluated. 10/16/20 Elijah Salem

It’s always been issues growing up with talking with my elders. A string of

miscommunications mixed with misunderstandings have led to months even years of a turbulent

relationship with my mom. We had trouble seeing eye to eye on a lot of things because of one

sided discussions where she would say her piece and nothing I said mattered. There are teens

across the world who are currently going through the same thing with their elders and this is

what leads to most teens not wanting to talk to their elders about anything. Because of the

generational gap, lack of respect, and general lack of communication between the two. Both

sides are at fault in every one of these reasons.

It’s not about what year you’re born in that determines why the generational gap is a real

issue. It’s the willingness to adapt to the years as they change and progress as most of our elders

have a habit of being frozen in the times when they were in their prime as well as being stuck to

the societal standards of back then to now. Teens of this age are a lot more leant on things that

were almost considered taboo back in our elder’s time and this can lead to a lot of
misunderstandings between the two because teens are also at fault for not trying to look down

their elder’s point of view. This can be solved with simply communicating to each other about

one another’s point of view on many things that both sides are confused on. Seek understanding

throughout the conversation instead of looking to critique one another.

Communication between the youth and their elders usually depend on their age according

to the elder. As a teen from an adult’s point of view I am seen as someone who doesn’t know

better and thus whenever I say anything to my elders they talk to me as if I was still the 9 year

old boy they once knew. This leads to the teen not wanting to talk to their parents about their

issues just for the parent to call their problems frivolous or to “get over it. From a teens

perspective our parents are just old people who are lost in the past and cannot be redeemed so we

talk to them as if they do not know anything about the present. This is also the cause disconnect

between the youth and their elders. A way to fix this is to address one another with equal respect

and not in a condescending tone or dismissive tone.

A simple issue as well is that there is a lack of communication between the youth and

their elders in general. How can you communicate effectively with someone you barely talk to?

Someone who doesn’t genuinely understand your character neither your motives. Even between

families you’re not able to vent to each other effectively just because your related there has to be

a genuine bond built between you and your elders in order to exchange your thoughts and ideas

fluently. Start by talking daily about surface topics while slowly diving deeper into each other’s

character. You will feel more comfortable sharing personal information with each other which

will pave the road to a future of healthy interactions with your elders.

Even with all the solutions provided they all take time to apply effectively. Being

understanding and patient with each other is a part of making these solutions work. Years and
months of going through turbulence with my own elders have taught me that a lot of our

communication issues start from the lack of communication and respect. Mental endurance is

developed in the process, and more healthy reactions occur. As long as there is strong

communicating everything is okay