What do young people think about age, ageing and the older generations? Do you believe that you are victims of discrimination? How do you feel about getting older? What do you think older generations can offer you and how do you view people of other ages?

Talkin’ ‘bout my Generation

In August 2010 London Youth ran a series of workshops with diverse groups of young people aged between 13 - 24 and got them to explore these questions. Delivered in a fun and interactive way, the workshops stimulated discussion and challenged young people to look at their own perceptions of age.

What you were shouting about?!

• Young people spend little if any time thinking about getting older. The older generations are seen as ‘others’ and in most cases, young people struggled to see an immediate connection with them

• The majority of young people we spoke to who had started work felt that they suffered from some sort of discrimination in the work place

• Many young people feared getting older and felt a real lack of answers to their questions as they move into adulthood

• There was a strong sense that young people would enjoy and benefit from the experience of older mentors offering practical support and guidance. What they wanted was to spend time with people who had been there and done it or were doing it now

Getting your voice heard

As well as promoting these finding through our membership the Beth Johnson Foundation, who commissioned this piece of work, has been using the findings in their own work. The Beth Johnson Foundation supports organisations that are bringing together groups of younger and older people to run projects in partnership - Intergenerational projects. 

Understanding young people’s opinions and feelings in this area will hopefully mean their offer is something relevant to the lives of young people.

Future work

London Youth is interested in developing further Intergenerational work. If you run an intergenerational project or are interested in future partnership work please contact Nicola Moore, Head of Youth Action on: 020 7549 8816 or nicola.moore@londonyouth.org.uk.

Special thanks go to The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation who funded ‘Talkin’ ‘bout my Generation’