In late October, about 120 teenage students and older adults attended the fourth Intergenerational Conversations Project in collaboration with Fort Collins high school students and Colorado State University (CSU) and other sponsors.
This event included roundtable conversations between local community teenagers and older adults that focus on traditions and its affects. Three rounds of topics included the attendees core values, talking across and about generations, and reflections from the last 50 years. Delaney and Jody McNally gave a brief overview and thanked all attendees for coming. Dr. Carcasson with CSU gave a brief presentation and agenda on today’s event.
(l-r) Chris Atib, Loveland Housing Authority; Sylvia Garcia, Poudre River Library District;
Delaney McNally, Founder of Generation Connect; Jim Becker, Exec Dir. Of PAFC; Jody Shadduck McNally, Larimer County; Myles Crane, FC Senior Advisory Board; Dr. Marf Carcasson, CSU; & Erin Black, Family Leadership Institute.
At our table, a question on what are the perceived differences between generations? Oder adults answered work ethic with teens is lower than several decades ago, teens prefer quantity instead of quality, and millennials seem lazy compared to the older generation. Several teens answered older adults or their parents don’t have patience with teens.
Another question on what does it mean to be educated? As a minority, one teen answered racism exists in her school, others answered a firm mindset of fellow students. Older adults answered some classism existed in their school days, good ole boy network, and one adult mentioned a movie about three African American women who became NASA mathematicians in Hidden Figures, so don’t let racism stop you in achieving your career goals!
Interestingly, both age groups gave their feelings about each other, thus a better understanding of both age groups should result in a beneficial outcome. Several more conversations are scheduled next year on February 22 in Fort Collins and March 7 in Loveland. If you are interested in attending, please visit www.pafclarimer.org/conversations to register.