Week of June 28, 1999
The show begins with a visit to a five-day residential retreat attended by people ranging from 14 to 91 years old. Organizer Dr. Nancy Henkin explains that the retreat is intended to provide an atmosphere in which men and women of all ages can learn from each other. Participants spend time together in recreational activities and also attend workshops on issues like human development, communications and race relations. The retreat, which began 20 years ago, is sponsored by the Temple University Center for Intergenerational Learning.
Next, Dr. Goodwin hosts a panel discussion which takes a wide view of relations between the generations. His guests are an anthropologist, Dr. Anthony Glasscock of Drexel University in Philadelphia; a public policy expert, Donna Butts of Generations United in Washington, D.C., and a psychologist, Dr. Sylvie Taylor, California School of Professional Psychology. Her new book, Books for Our Children, Books for Ourselves, is a guide on reading children's literature for African American parents.
All three begin by agreeing that America today is one of the most age-segregated societies ever, and that much depth and personal benefit is lost for both the individual and society as the generations have become increasingly isolated. Dr. Taylor observes that grandparents can bring history to life for their children and children's children, by telling about their own personal experiences, in the civil rights struggle, for example. Parents, she says, serve a vital function in rearing the new generation and involving the older generation in that process. Children, meanwhile, keep everybody fresh, she says, observing that there's a whole wave of older people learning Internet technology just to stay in touch with their grandkids via e-mail.
Dr. Glasscock points out that societies in which generations have significant interaction offer each individual a greater perspective on the ups and downs and progress of life. Growing up, aging, and even dying, he says, are viewed as a normal progression of events.
Next, the group talks about programs that seek to expand ties between the generations. Donna Butts says that such programs seek to establish real and personal bonds between seniors and young people. These bonds help older people feel valued and help kids get through difficult times. Ms. Butts, who is executive director of the only national membership organization focusing on intergenerational issues, also talks about the worldwide emphasis in this area. She mentions that 1999 is the United Nation's International Year of the Older Person, and talks about how the UN is using the year to showcase the importance of looking at public policy decisions through an intergenerational lens. Dr. Taylor talks about programs where older people help new mothers with their infants, and Dr. Glasscock mentions that there is currently an effort in Scandinavia to recreate multigenerational communities.
Dr. Glasscock next talks about the tribal cultures he's studied and how values are transmitted by older adults to younger members of the society. While studying in Somalia, he says, he found that the elders of the community could talk about the lives of their male ancestors dating back 13, 14 and 15 generations. That kind of oral tradition gives elders a moral authority from which to convey values as well as history, he says. Dr. Glasscock notes that some grandparents choose not to become actively involved with their grandkids figuring that they've already paid their dues by raising their own family.
Dr. Taylor discusses ways that a break-down of relations between the generations can negatively affect inner-city communities, and the importance of story-telling to transmit values.
Next, Dr. Goodwin talks with Bill Belsey, a teacher at the Banded Peak School in Bragg Creek, Alberta. Mr. Belsey has developed a program that links older adults with students at the school for shared learning about history and new technologies. With him are Mr. Gordon Berry, who is 84, and seventh graders Zoe Brown and Megan Avery, all of whom participate in the program. It's called Generations CANConnect.
Belsey talks about the time he spent as a teacher in the Arctic with the Inuit people, and their concept about how learning needs to reflect a community of learners, learning together with respect for tradition. This approach is reflected in the Generations CANConnect program, he says.
Generations CANConnect has three parts, he says. In one part of the program, seniors bring in memorablia and work with their student partners to capture related memories, pictures and stories on an Internet website. The students and seniors also learn skills together using the Internet including banking, finding health information, e-mail and geneology. And an outreach program is proving seniors with access to Web-TV.
Gordon Berry says he's happy to participate in the program, in part, because he likes the idea of playing a role in helping kids learn, since they are the future of the country. Zoe says she was able to share computer knowledge with her senior partner, while Megan says she was interested to learn how her senior partner had learned as a child. The course material was the same, but the technology was different. "They used textbooks and we use the Internet," she says.
Belsey says the technologies involved are less important that the connections they've helped the GCC participants make. At the beginning of the program both the seniors and the teens were uneasy about working together, mostly because of stereotypes they carried about the other generation. The project has broken through that by centering on the shared learning that takes place, he says
Generations CANConnect, a pilot program at a few locations in Canada, will be launched across Canada next year. Belsey said the Internet has also helped it spread quickly beyond Canada, replicated currently in Tokyo, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Next up, The Infinite Mind's June Peoples reports on a public television program with intergenerational themes. The Noddy Shop, produced by the BBC and distributed around the world, is a half-hour children's show based on the stories of English author Enid Blyton. Her stories, which were turned into an animated series, have been developed into a program that blends animated segments with puppets and live actors. The show is set in an antique toy store, owned by a retired sea captain who takes care of his two grandchildren and their friend after school. The Noddy Shop, shown on most PBS stations in the U.S., offers grants to public television stations for local intergenerational outreach programs.
Finally, John Hockenberry wonders aloud about how the baby boomer generation just keeps refusing to grow up.
Underwriting for this program provided in part by the John Templeton Foundation, exploring the creative interface between science and religion.
