Unitarian Doublespeak – “Intergenerational”

Every now and then I notice a little Orwellian speech and misnomers in our Unitarian Universalist community – I talked before how “Lifespan Religious Education” usually means childhood RE and one adult RE class that deals with a very specific subtopic.  Today’s post is about the term “inter-generational.”

Today our minister was talking about how we need more inter-generational work in our congregation – it was in the spirit of the Coming of Age program today (see future post!)  I totally agree with him – our congregation is dividing pretty sharply on generational lines, and I think we do need inter-generational events, etc.  But true inter-generational events.  Not the definition that he seemed to be using, nor the definition I hear most commonly.

He spent most of his time and effort telling how the old folks need to share with the young folks their wisdom and their lessons.  I’d like to point out that the young have more to share than just their “youthful energy and joy” – young people have just as many life lessons they can share with older folk – part of the problem is when the older generations feel like they need to impart their knowledge on the young kids who
don’t know the “difference between live music and downloaded music.”  If young folk aren’t taken seriously about the lessons they have to give, and are instead patted on the head for their youthful energy, then the inter-generational work will be an inherent failure.  This is why I’ve been a rather successful middle school youth group / RE teacher – I listen to them, take their ideas seriously, and can communicate on their level without coming off condescending and patting them on their head.

In addition, inter-generational work deals with other generations than just the oldest generation and the youngest generation – there are two or three generations in between that not only need to learn but also have lessons to share.  We want to know how life is the same was it was and those lessons, and we want to share how life is different know and those lessons that come with it.  So when there’s inter-generational work being done, events being planned, remember to include ALL generations – not just the grandparents and the school aged students, and remember that in true inter-generational work, all voices should be heard, respected, honored and learned from – one generation should not feel like they are better or have more to share than the other.