A third aspect emerges when comparing and cross-referencing the assessments across generations. Those who are most critical of young people are young people themselves, far more so than adults and older people, who, by contrast, tend to emphasise their positive qualities to a greater extent. Paradoxically, it would appear that the younger generations are harsher (and perhaps more demanding) towards themselves than their parents are. The same can be said of adults. Whilst adults – and older people in particular – appear to be lenient towards their own negative traits and to emphasise their positive ones, young people are more scathing. One figure stands out: 70.3 per cent of young people see adults as frustrated, but 59.2 per cent of adults share this view, compared with just 41.6 per cent of older people.
Whilst generational distinctions appear to be blurring, in reality, in our collective imagination, young people, adults and older people still have their own distinctive traits. However, if young people characterise themselves – and, above all, define themselves – in a critical rather than a positive light, it is perhaps because they are more demanding of themselves than adults are of them. Certainly, the boundaries of what it means to be young are harder to define than they used to be, but the problem is that it is adults who have lost their sense of identity and their ability to serve as a point of reference and comparison for the younger generations. It is the responsibility of adulthood that needs to be redefined.
