Generation gap gets wider

Jay Carlson loves his grandma, but the two have their differences.

He's a 22-year-old gay, atheist computer engineering student who not only voted for Barack Obama but also worked for the Democratic Party.

Grandma is in her 70s, attends church every Sunday and usually turns on her computer only to send e-mails, some of them chain messages that questioned Obama.

“She's the sweetest, kindest person ever,” said Carlson, a senior majoring in computer and electrical engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “But she's from a totally different generation, and we definitely look at the world in different ways.”

Tweeting and texting teens and twentysomethings increasingly are at odds with those 65 and older when it comes to topics such as technology, politics and religion. Those differences have created the biggest generation gap since the 1960s, according to a report released this week by the Pew Research Center.

Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed said there is a major schism between the values and mindsets of younger and older Americans. That's a bigger gap than in turbulent 1969, when 74 percent reported generational culture clashes over Vietnam, civil rights and women's liberation.

Today, both sides peg social values and morality as the biggest differences between those 30 and under and those 65 and older, according to the researchers. Older Americans placed more value on religion. Younger people tended to be more accepting of gay marriage and interracial relationships, and they also were overwhelmingly more likely to embrace technology and share their thoughts via text messaging and social networking Web sites.

None of those findings surprises Carlson.

His grandmother regularly attends and volunteers at church (Carlson knows she's Protestant, but don't ask him which denomination).

While she uses e-mail, she hardly ever surfs the Internet or uses a cell phone. Carlson spends hours a day on Facebook, debating on the Web site with friends about politics and other social issues. Those are the kind of thoughts his grandma would prefer to keep private.

The two have never discussed his sexual orientation or her political beliefs, but the different points of view are obvious. They don't argue, accepting that neither will change the other.

That lack of confrontation makes the current generation gap far different that the one in the 1960s, said Paul Taylor, director of the Pew Social and Demographic Trends Project. In the 1960s, younger people built a defiant counterculture. The current generation is more passive.

“Today, it's more of a general outlook, a different point of view, a general set of morals,” Taylor said.

If the younger, open-minded, more technologically adaptable generation keeps those traits as it ages, it could have major implications in coming decades, said Ilze Zigurs, a professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha who studies the impact of technology on people and society.

Zigurs speaks from experience. The 61-year-old is unusually technologically savvy for her age because of her profession. She predicts that people like her won't be as uncommon in the future.

“Adaptability is one of the best traits we can have,” she said. “It will foster innovation and could potentially make big political issues such as health care reform or environmental decisions easier to digest.”

Young adults today skew more liberal because they have easier lives, said Ann Coco, a 26-year-old Omahan. People in her grandparents' generation had to work harder to survive and as a result value individualism.

“The thinking then was that no one should get a free ride,” she said. “We've been pampered a bit. We haven't had to work as hard.”

The politically independent Coco voted for the more liberal Obama. She's pretty certain her grandfather backed the more conservative John McCain.

The philosophical differences have their benefits and drawbacks, said Shannon Cary, a 28-year-old student at UNO.

Her generation tends to be more tolerant than older people, which she sees as a good thing. But she doesn't think young people value family as much, which is problematic, she said.

Libby Schumacher sure thinks young adults act differently compared to when she was growing up.

The 66-year-old plays piano at St. Leo Catholic Church, and she's noticed fewer young adults attending. She also fears that text messaging keeps youngsters from living in the moment. Her parents never would have allowed her to text while they talked to her.

Schumacher hopes people her age can stress to youngsters the importance of religion and family values. But she's willing to borrow from other generations, too. She has a cell phone, but she doesn't text, and she's impressed with how confident young adults are now.

“I'm just starting to rebel,” Schumacher said.

Carlson doesn't see the generation gap narrowing anytime soon. He and his 18-year-old brother, in fact, have their own gap.

The brother and his friends are more tech savvy — they debate news issues not only on Facebook but Twitter and other places. They organize online rallies and groups to back certain causes.

“They're on a whole different level,” Carlson said. “And they're only four years younger.”

World-Herald staff writer Michaela Saunders contributed to this report, which includes material from the Associated Press.

Contact the writers

444-1220, dane.stickney@owh.com or 444-1229, elliot.njus@owh.com