Youth and Intergenerational Volunteering Miriam Teuma CEO Agenzija Zghazagh

Ask a young person What comes to your mind when you think of YOUNG and OLD?

A GAP IN Generations

Generational segregation has increasingly become a norm in today’s modern industrialized societies. The social structuring of age has contributed to an extent the gap among generations.

A dimension of age segregation is ‘institutional age segregation’ where different age groups are isolated from the socially constructed division according to chronological age.

Age segregation has various undesirable consequences, besides producing ageism which leads to the discrimination of young people against the old, it also reinforces the negative stereotype of the young among the old.

As a matter of fact The FAMILY is probably the only institution that is ‘truly age integrated’ (Hagestad and Uhlenber, 2005, 2006)

However the advent of nuclear families, more instances of separation/divorce, single parent families….is increasingly limiting the capacity of the family to provide cross-age understanding and connections.

It is important to note that The social support network weakens when horizontal connections between the same age peers are not enriched and extended by vertical connections across different ages.

Intergenerational understanding should be promoted to bridge the generation gap and enhance generational re-engagement in the family, community and the wider society How?

The concept of intergenerational programmes as attempts to connect the old and young have shown to produce desirable outcome and increasingly recognized as an effective tool to close the generation gap (Newman et. al., 1997).

What should our plans be? We should work towards a holistic approach to promote an environment that the generations can integrate seamlessly.

Such programmes should….. Provide a conducive space for engagements, designed to integrate and not segregate different generations in the same space, Aim at breaking institutional isolations.

Example Engaging in Intergenerational Volunteering

Intergenerational volunteering allows young and older people to do valuable work in human service fields. And they give old and young alike the chance to experience meaningful, CARING relationships.

Intergenerational volunteering allows young people to: Break down stereotypes and myths about elders Learn first-hand about the skills and physical capabilities of older persons; Learn that not all older people are alike; See positive role models of aging adults; Learn skills that would be lost if not passed down from generation to generation Exercising community responsibility and good citizenship Improve in confidence and self-esteem

Intergenerational volunteering allows young people to: Learn how to handle situations and emotions they face today by listening to an older adult talk about past experiences; Receive support in dealing with crises involving family, school and peer groups Have an older advocate to help them gain access to the mainstream community Involvement in a constructive activity that will be a deterrent from potentially harmful or criminal activities

Intergenerational volunteering allows older adults to: Developing caring relationships with youths Meet people with common interests Become involved in the community; Develop new skills to use in their everyday life; Achieve a sense of fulfillment by passing on life experiences and skills to others; Earn satisfaction from make a valuable volunteer contribution Relief from isolation because they have something to look forward to; Develop relationships free of role restraints they have as parents or professionals; Receive the joys of conversation, touch, and entertainment that comes from regular contact with another individual.