2011-06-02 18:47:45 -
ST ALBANS, ENGLAND -- (Marketwire) -- 06/02/11 -- Editors Note: There is one video and two photos associated with this press release.
A new study by the charity Abbeyfield(1) shows that 50 per cent of the over 65s think young people lack family values, morals, a sense of responsibility, community spirit and are obsessed with celebrities and becoming famous. And the views of young people on the older generation are just as bad - many say older people have outdated views, attitudes and behaviours and do not respect young people.
Actor Geoffrey Palmer OBE, is launching a national initiative to bring the young and older generations together. Palmer is championing the generational skills swaps which will take place during Abbeyfield Week (10-19 June).
Palmer commented: "I'm launching the AGEnda Skills Swaps to raise awareness of the need for young and older people to spend more time together. The skills swaps will prove to the different age groups that their negative ideas are far from the truth. The swaps, which will range from cooking to using the internet, will help to build bridges between the generations as they learn from each other. I'm also inviting people to arrange their own skills swaps and share their plans and experiences with Abbeyfield online."
Abbeyfield's research generated a Top Ten AGEnda Skills Swaps list which
shows that young and older people are keen to lean form each other. They
want to:
1. Shadow each other to learn about the other's lifestyle (young and older
people)
2. Learn to cook from scratch (young people)
3. Learn traditional crafts such as knitting and sewing (young people)
4. Learn how to repair and re-use things (young people)
5. Gardening (young people)
6. DIY (young people)
7. Learn how to write a great letter (young people)
8. Learn an extreme sport (older people)
9. Go night clubbing (older people)
10. Learn to play computer games and use social networking sites (older
people)
The AGEnda Skills Swaps will take place 10 and 19 June 2011. To learn more about the campaign and get involved visit www.abbeyfieldweek.co.uk :
www.abbeyfieldweek.co.uk/ .
THE RESULTS
Over 65s: Over-all more than one in ten adults aged 65 or over said they had a negative opinion of young people today. Half of those polled think young people have lost family values and 46% said young people lack morals - negative perceptions exist around anti-social behaviour including binge drinking, swearing and rudeness. Fifty-three per cent said young people have no sense of responsibility or community spirit.
Nearly 60% said youngsters have lost all value for money and are preoccupied with celebrity culture and crave fame. More than half (55%) think young people have no social skills and 47% feel that the youth of today have lost their innocence. Respect is a big issue - just 18% of the over 65s feel younger people respect their elders. On a practical level 46% said they dislike the fact that youngsters have poor writing skills and 40% branded them lazy.
Commenting on these findings, psychologist Honey Langcaster-James said: "The way we live has changed dramatically over the years. We're increasingly isolated from people of other generations. It's now common to live at huge geographical distances from our parents and grandparents and hence we can become cocooned within our own generation. The danger with this is that it limits our progress individually. It tends to lead to intolerance of people from other generations and often conflict over the generational divide; as these results indicate."
10-17 Year Olds: Nearly a third of British youngsters feel that the older generation's views are completely outdated. Thirty-one per cent said that adults over 65 have outdated views, attitudes and behaviour and 15 per cent also felt that older people are guilty of prejudice. These findings may be linked to the fact that 40% of young people felt that older people do not respect younger people's views and 42% said older people are not interested in technology; which is now so integral to young people's lives. Only four per cent felt that older people are clued-up about the digital world.
18-30 Year Olds: Forty-eight per cent think the over 65s are set in their ways; refusing to change and keep up with the times. Forty-five per cent said older people do not respect younger people's views and 42% feel older people are rude. The same percentage said older people have lost respect from society and the NHS. The perception of older people's grasp on new technology is better in this age group with 23% saying they are 'fairly up-to-date with the digital world' however and equal number said the over 65s 'know nothing about technology'.
Old and Young Don't Mix Enough: It is not surprising that there is misunderstanding among the age groups - they spend very little time one-to-one together; just 12 days in a whole year. This applies to 30% of 18-30 year olds and 41% of 10-17 years. The remainder said they don't spend any one-to-one time with older people. On the most recent occasion when the generations spent time together, they watched TV (10-17 year olds) or had a natter (18-30) over a cup of tea.
Honey continued: "By isolating ourselves from other generations we are missing out on important opportunities for learning and acquiring skills learned by generations other than our own. If we are to benefit from the valuable skills and life lessons that other generations have experienced, it is vital that we rebuild links and purposefully seek opportunities to swap skills and get to know others outside our generational groups."
The Good News: Nearly 70 per cent of 18-30 year olds admire the life experience of older people and over a third (35.2%) said they liked the fact that older people are willing to share their knowledge and wisdom. For the 10-17 year olds, these figures were 43% and 35% respectively.
Seventy per cent of the over 65s said they admire young people's ability to embrace new technology and 29% said they like their 'get up and go' attitude to life. Both age groups agree they can learn from each other. Eighty-two per cent of the 10-17 year olds said that older people have things to teach them, with only one in twenty disagreeing. In the 18-30 age group, over 76% agree they have things to learn from the older generation. And 66% of the older age group said the younger generation can teach them new things.
Paul Allen, chief executive of Abbeyfield said: "If the two generations don't have much contact with each other it's understandable why they make assumptions which may not always be correct. Abbeyfield Week is our annual celebration illustrating all that is great about the different generations. Our theme for 2011 is a AGEnda Generational Skills Swap where we host events in our houses. The event will enable our residents to have a fun day interacting with young people to swap skills unknown to each other."
Note to Editors
-- Research conducted by OnePoll.com: 1000 respondents aged 10-30 years old
and 65+ throughout the UK.
-- Abbeyfield's mission is to enhance the quality of life for older people.
Abbeyfield has 80 care homes, two nursing homes, 700 supported houses
and 8,000 volunteers in the UK.
-- (1) Abbeyfield Week is an annual celebration that brings together
residents and their family and friends, staff, volunteers, local
figureheads and the wider local community to share in social activities,
brining the generations together.
-- Honey Langcaster-James BSc (hons) MSc is a psychologist, coach and media
commentator.
To view the video associated with this press release, please visit the following link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDbn5R3Gua4 :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDbn5R3Gua4 .
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www.marketwire.com/library/20110602-Peggy_Cull8.jpg
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Contacts:
Althea Taylor-Salmon
07711 624 267
althea@fortunepr.co.uk :
