Generational Interview Podcast

In this podcast, Kendall interviews her mom, a Gen Xer, and her mom's boyfriend, a baby boomer, about how the Corona system has changed children's experiences with their parents. Kendall, a Gen Z, feels there is less focus on neighborhood and family play, more reliance on daycare, and stronger bonds are harder to form due to technology. Bobby, the baby boomer, believes that in the past, there was more time for family togetherness and less distraction from technology. Kendall's mom agrees that Gen Xers are more independent, but the lack of independence in today's kids is concerning. Both older generations believe that there has been a shift in independence and family values, impacting how parents treat their children. The interview aligns with research by Gary Bannon and Karen Fingerman. Hi, my name is Kendall Sharnowski. For this generational podcast, I'll be interviewing my mom, who is classified as Gen X, and her boyfriend, who is classified as a baby boomer. And I'll be discussing question three, which is how has children's experience with how their parents treated them changed with the Corona system? So first, we'll be talking about myself. I am Gen Z, and I feel like a common experience that's seen with this generation between parents and children is that there's less focus on neighborhood and family play, and there's more shift into daycare just because of how busy parents are. So it's common for children to feel a little disconnected from their parents now more than before. And I think we are also more wrapped up in technology nowadays, making stronger bonds between parents and children are even harder to form and maintain now. So next, I'll be shifting to Bobby. And like I said before, he is a baby boomer. So the question I have for you is a study between Karen Fingerman from the Gerontologist Journal in 2012 talked about how baby boomers tend to have more value in family ties and relationships. And how do you think this relates to how parents treat their children? Well, I just think back in the day, there was less things to do. Stores were closed earlier, and things were not open on Sundays. So there was more time available to kids and families to be together. So that's where that time was spent. Holidays were different, more time spent with families on holidays and everything like that. So again, technology, I think, has taken us away from family time. Thank you. Now I'm going to be moving to my mom, who, like I said before, is Gen X. So my question for you is a study by Gary Bannon from the Sage Journal in 2001 claims that Gen Xers tend to be more independent than other generations. So basically, how do you think that this relates to the question that how children's experience with their parents forms how they're treated? Well, because Gen X generation is more independent because they have more time outside, more independent play, more freedom due to safety issues and concerns, and not as many needs in their neighborhood gatherings. Kids aren't as independent as they were brought up to be before. So basically what you're saying is you think that this is more harmful to kids in today's generation, kind of like depriving them of that ability to be more independent. Correct. Okay. Thank you. So it's obvious that the two older generations that I interviewed definitely believe that there is a shift in independence and family values from then compared to now. And some of the factors that were included were technology and just parents not being as accessible as they were back in the day. Now both parents tend to be working and more kids are off at daycare. So this can significantly impact how parents treat their children. It's harder to form bonds than it was back in the day. And parents are a lot more concerned about safety now. So that's another factor with that. All right. So in conclusion, I just wanted to add that both of the questions I conducted in my podcast interview line up really well with the information that Gary Bannon and Karen Fingerman shared in their respective journals. So yeah, I think that interviewing these two people really helped to gather some more insight and just kind of confirmed with some real life examples what the two had said in their own journals. So thank you.