Monday, September 24, 2007

Problem and Solution

A generation gap is a wide difference in cultural norms between members of a younger generation and their elders and it is very common nowadays. In my hometown, when a person is young, the relationship with one’s parents is intimate. Generally, family members spend plenty of time together and share happiness and sorrow. As time goes by, however, the generation gap forms and the relationship between the child and his/her parents chills. Gradually the child tends to keep his/her parents out of his/her world and conflicts between them arise more and more frequently. In order to achieve harmony in the family, there are several ways to overcome this kind of generation gap. Firstly, family members need to find the common interest, such as sports. Different backgrounds might be the main reason to cause the conflicts, and sports can minimize the generation gap. For example, a child can play a game such as football with his/her parent. During the game, the child might know more about his/her parents’ football experience. Later on, whenever something unhappy happened, they still have happy memories. Secondly, family members should talk to each other patiently and politely. A rude attitude scares people and might keep the distance between each other whereas a beautiful smile can warms people’s heart. Especially for children, when their parents yell at them when they are trying to ask for a favor, the children might get hurt and never dare to bother their parents again. Day after day, the generation gap becomes more and more obvious. Lastly, as a family, each of them should be frank to each other and not talk behind others’ back. Concealing opinions is not an effective solution to avoid conflicts and in fact, it might make the relationship worse. If one thinks the other’s behavior is unacceptable, having a little talk could be a way to solve the problem. Overall, the above three ways might help a family to overcome the generation gap and minimize the conflicts between the families.

2 comments:

Brad Blackstone said...

This is a very important topic discussion, Karen (for what is more important than the family?). I see that you've made some good revisions. Your "voice" shines through this discussion.

Thank you for posting this fine paragraph!

Tang Xin said...

I get your ideas.
But I have a question also: "Later on, whenever something unhappy happened, they still have happy memories." Can the happy memory eliminate anything unhappy?