A few years ago it was fashionable to speak of a generation gap. Parents complained that children didn't show them proper respect and obedience, while children complained that their parents didn't understand them at all. Many critics argue that it is built into the fabric of our society.

One cause of the generation gap is the opportunity that young people have to choose their own life. In traditional socieries, children live in the same area as their parents, marry people their parents know and approve of, and often continue the family occupation. In our society, people often move out of the home at an early age, marry or live with people their parents have never met, and choose occupations that are rather different.

In our upwardly mobile society, parents often expect their children to be better than them. However, these ambitions for their children are another cause of the division between them. Often they discover that they have very little in common.

Finally, the speed of change in our society is another cause of it. In a traditional culture, people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society the knowledge of a lifetime may become out of date. The young and the old seem to live in two very different worlds, separated by different skills and abilities.

No doubt, the generation gap will continue to be a feature of our life for some time to come. Its causes are rooted in the freedoms and opportunities of our society, and in the rapid pace at which society changes.