Intergenerational solidarity in triads of adult grandchild,parent, and grandparent: the positive view of elders,positive expectations towards the future and young-elders divide

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The remarkable growth of older adults represents a challenge for our societies.

The population of aging requires adjustments that sometimes are difficult to achieve for already stressed welfare systems. In this context, intergenerational solidarity may play a central role. Demographic shifts over the past century have also increased the percentage of grandchildren who, as young adults, have living grandparents. Adult grandchildren could become an important source of intergenerational solidarity, but few studies have explored intergenerational relations, including grandparents, adult children, and adult grandchildren. None to our knowledge have examined which aspects of intergenerational solidarity affect the positive view of elders, positive expectations toward the future, and old-young divides.     

Grandparents Against Homework

America now possesses not only the largest and fastest-growing population of older adults in our history but also the healthiest, most vigorous, best educated and civic-minded. By the year 2025, one of every four Americans will be a grandparent. However, the real potential is not in the numbers, but in the emotional attachment between grandparents and their grandchildren. Their devotion to their grandchildren, in addition to the wisdom and skills learned over a lifetime, may well be the greatest social capital children and parents have in their battle against the “sacred cow” that is homework.     

Female College Students Who Are Parents: Motivation Clarified by the Ages of Their Children

The ages of student-parents' children are a defining factor for clarifying enrollment and persistence in the attainment of college degrees. A secondary factor for women's academic persistence (women with older children) is the dominance and control of males. The participants in this study were diverse, including student-parents most prominent in research who are single mothers living in poverty—both traditional and non-traditional aged—and those not found in existing literature: married students, those not living in poverty, and one grandparent raising her grandchildren. The findings suggest a need for further definition to understand who student-parents are and their motivations to persist toward degree attainment on two-year campuses.     

ELDERLY PERSONS’ ATTITUDE TOWARD CHILDREN

Many school systems and other agencies across the nation are implementing or planning to implement programs involving older persons with children. Thus it now seems crucial to examine older person's attitudes toward children. Intergenerational encounters can be positive only if the attitudes of both groups are known and taken into consideration. The instrument, Elderly Persons’ Attitudes Toward Children, was administered to a random sample of persons over age 65 throughout the nation (N = 542). Results indicated that the elderly hold overall positive attitudes toward children; however, their responses reveal the complexities of attitudes. Negative attitudes toward some personality characteristics of children, as well as the belief that stricter methods of discipline should be used, were found. Higher levels of education, more frequent contact with children, and having grandchildren under the age of twelve were related to more positive attitudes toward children. This information should be useful to those involved in planning and implementing intergenerational programs in school and nonschool settings and for the design of training programs for elder volunteers desiring to work with children.     

DETERMINING THE SUCCESS OF GRANDPARENT EDUCATION

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of a course for grandparents. A sample of 87 consanguineous subjects included 29 grandparents, 29 grandchildren, and 29 of the grandchildren's parents. Twelve class sessions explored how the experiences of growing up and raising children differ from the recent past and attempted to identify corresponding changes required for the older relatives. Each generation was administered the Grandparent Strengths and Needs Inventory before and after grandparents attended the course. The participants reported perceptions regarding six dimensions of grandparent attitudes and behaviors. Changes in the performance of grandparents were compared using t‐tests. According to the grandparents, the course resulted in increased satisfaction (p < .05), greater success (p < .05) and more effective teaching (p < .05) in family relationships. They reported making gains for 58 out of 60 items. Parents and grandchildren corroborated most of these gains by higher posttest scores. MANOVA identified significant differences in generational perceptions of grandparent potentials (p < .05) and concerns (p < .01). The findings confirm that family development goals can be supported by making education for grandparents available and encouraging them to remain influential in their families through continued learning.     

幼儿的祖辈主要教养人与隔代教育的研究

在园幼儿以祖辈为主要教养人的家庭中，祖辈参与的力度在不同的家庭中是不同的。本文就隔代教育的状况如何、幼儿家庭的哪些特点促成祖辈成为孙辈的主要教养人、祖辈主要教养人具有哪些个人特点、祖辈主要教养人的隔代教育对幼儿带来了什么影响等问题进行探讨。     

DEVELOPING CURRICULA FOR GRANDPARENTS IN JAPAN

The purpose of this study was to determine how three generations view the contribution and needs of grandparents in Japan. A sample consisting of 239 grandparents, 266 parents, and 274 grandchildren from, urban and rural areas completed the Grandparent Strengths and Needs Inventory (Strom & Strom, 1993). Grandparents reported more satisfaction, success, and involvement in teaching than was observed by parents or grandchildren. Grandparents experienced greater difficulty as well as frustration and saw themselves as less informed about their role than was reported by younger people. Significant main effects were generation, grandchild gender, grandchild age, generations living together, frequency of grandchild care by the grandparent, and amount of time the generations spent together. Implications for building curricula and guidelines for program development are identified.     

Teachers' perceptions of the emotional and behavioral functioning of children raised by grandparents

Increasing numbers of grandparents are becoming full‐time surrogate parents to their grandchildren. Grandparents who raise their grandchildren reportedly endure high levels of stress, and grandchildren purportedly experience childhood trauma that can lead to poor psychological adjustment. While anecdotal reports have suggested that grandchildren experience significant behavioral problems, there is a dearth of data to empirically support this view. This research was an initial endeavor to ascertain whether teachers perceive children raised by grandparents as exhibiting serious emotional and behavioral problems. Fifty‐four African American children raised by their grandparents and a comparison group of 54 African American children living with their parents were studied to determine the grandchildren's functioning. Teachers perceived the children raised by their grandparents as experiencing significantly more emotional and behavioral problems than their similar schoolmates. Children in these families appear in need of school‐based intervention services. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 565–572, 2006.     

Phenomenologizing Filipino custodial grandparents’ interment stress

ABSTRACT

Custodial grandparenting is yet another dynamic shift in the modern family. A diversity of social, economic and protective reasons why grandparents care for their grandchildren gives additional roles and responsibilities to grandparenthood. Equated with old age, most grandparents perceive interment as an inevitable stressful reality of life, thus this qualitative inquiry. Six custodial grandparents (61–74 years old) participated in a semi-structured interview. Field texts were vertically and horizontally analyzed to capture the core meanings of these custodial grandparents’ interment stress; emergent themes were validated through correspondence and member-checking procedures. Interestingly, this inquiry afforded the development of a Tensional Nature of Interment Stress – spanning cognitive, affective, and behavioral tensions – which represents the conflicting tensions that Filipino grandparents experience to accommodate the presence of interment stress in their custodial grandparenthood. The implications of the emerged model to educational gerontology are discussed in this paper.     

Family,Close Relatives,Friends: Life Satisfaction Among Older People

This study examined the influence of socioeconomic (age, education, marital status, income, and health) and demographic variables and the quantity and quality of relationships with adult children, grandchildren, siblings and friends on life satisfaction of the elderly. Participants were 200 persons older than 60 years of age. Hierarchical regression analysis was used for data analysis. The three sets of regression models were run for each gender. Regression equations involved three sets of independent variables: socioeconomic, demographic, and relational (i.e., frequency, satisfaction) variables. When the three models were examined together, health and education made the highest contribution to females' life satisfaction. Health had a similar effect on the life satisfaction of males.     

Associations between motivation to learn,basic skills,and adult education and training participation among older adults in the USA

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to examine the associations between the motivation to learn, basic skills (i.e. literacy and numeracy), and organised adult education and training (AET) participation among the middle-aged and older adults in the USA. Rapid technological advancement and globalisation necessitate individuals to engage in lifelong learning to actively participate in society. However, little is known about the roles of motivation to learn and basic skills in the AET participation in the U.S. adult population. We obtained the data from the 2012/2014 Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies restricted-use file and adults aged 50 years and older (n = 2,580) are included. Structural equation models are used to examine (1) any AET, (2) formal AET and (3) non-formal AET participation as a function of the motivation to learn latent construct, literacy, numeracy, and other covariates. Results showed that the motivation to learn, literacy and numeracy are all positive predictors of non-formal AET participation. Only motivation to learn is associated with formal AET participation. Findings from this study may inform future interventions as well as policy changes to promote specific types of organised AET programmes among older adult population in the USA.     

Getting Grandma Online: Are Tablets the Answer for Increasing Digital Inclusion for Older Adults in the U.S.?

Using information and communication technologies (ICTs) can improve older adults’ quality of life. ICT use is associated with decreased feelings of loneliness and depression, along with increased feelings of independence and personal growth. However, limited access and low technological self-efficacy are key reasons why some groups, especially older adults, are excluded from being fully engaged in the digital world. In this study, we focus on older adults’ technological self-efficacy, which is related to their actual use of technology and the second level digital divide. Specifically, we examine: (a) how older adults decide to use a new technology, tablet computers; (b) how they conquer the barrier of technological self-efficacy through using tablets; and (c) the impacts of using this new technology in their lives. Twenty-one in-depth interviews were conducted with older adults residing in independent living communities in a medium-sized city in the Deep South region of the United States. Observational and enactive learning played important roles for older adults in using tablets. Seeing others use tablets, getting recommendations from family members, or having tablets given to them were the primary reasons they started to use tablet computers. The ease of use feature of tablets helped solve the problem of lacking technological self-efficacy. Using tablets helped increase a sense of connectedness. Tablet computers may be one way to increase digital inclusion among older adults.     

GRANDPARENTS PARENTING GRANDCHILDREN: EXTENT OF SITUATION,ISSUES INVOLVED,AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

The number of grandparents who are parenting their grandchildren is growing. This paper examines the extent of this phenomenon and examines some of the issues these grandparents face this "second time around" in parenting. Implications for the educational community are discussed.     

Singing about soldiers in German schools,from 1890 to 1945

Abstract

A crucial historical intersection of war and education asks how schooling contributed to convincing people to fight and to sacrifice their own lives, and those of their loved ones, in wars. This article addresses this question by asking how primary schools, in one country, namely Germany, over several tumultuous generations, used songs to teach children about soldiers’ lives and deaths. Songs, because they are short, often repeated, and laden with emotion, merit attention in studies of education for war. Examination of school songbooks and curricula shows that songs commonly taught in German primary schools from the late German Empire, through the First World War and the Weimar Republic, and into the Third Reich and Second World War consistently exalted sacrificial death for fatherland. The routine presence of these songs contributed to presenting death for the fatherland as a holy cause, and making sacrificial death in battle imaginable. Wartime sources suggest that songs learned at school also went to war. Engaging with scholarship concerning continuity and change in the history of German education, as well as with work concerning sacrificial death in the construction of the nation, this article compares older soldier songs with songs introduced by the Nazis, showing how National Socialism appropriated older songs, while imposing its own more expansive, less personalised conception of war and resulting death.     

关于祖父母、外祖父母探望权问题之探讨

探望权制度的确立,是我国婚姻家庭立法上一大进步。但随着在实践中的应用,我国探望权制度主体过于狭窄的缺陷逐渐暴露出来,其中一个突出问题,就是祖父母、外祖父母是否享有对孙子女、外孙子女的探望权？该文就此问题从探望权的立法目的、家庭伦理、权利义务相统一原则、世界各国立法情况以及探望权行使难等方面进行了深入分析和探讨,提出了完善探望权主体制度的立法建议：一是适当扩大探望权的权利主体范围,二是未成年人享有探望父母或要求父母探望的权利,三是扩大探望权的义务主体范围。     

LIFELONG EDUCATION,LIFELONG NEEDS: FUTURE ROLES IN AN AGING SOCIETY

This article proceeds from the assumption that the aging of American society has consequences for the life roles of midlife and older persons. Seven points are developed in support of the assumption. They are as follows: dynamics and demographics of an aging population; education, a critical component of life in the future; a model of education for older adults; new roles for an aging society; literacy for older persons; older persons' activities in pursuit of lifelong education; and a view of the future that includes lifelong education for lifelong needs. The final section offers some speculations about what lifelong education will be like in 2010.     

Aging and social security system in Pakistan: policy challenges,opportunities, and role of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to highlight the aging and elderly care in Pakistan, a country considered the seventh most populous country in the world with an estimated population of 220 million people (citation, 2017). In 2013, Pakistan signed a MoU with China for 56 billion in US$ to create opportunities for the youngsters, but there was no story of opportunity included for the senior citizens. An attempt has been made to raise awareness of the plight of seniors to the Pakistan Government’s attention; however since there is no formal policy dedicated to elders from the Chinese mega MoU and political instability, only little has been accomplished to better the lives of older adults. Modernization has had a major impact on the life of older Pakistani, and not always a positive effect. This research focuses on the important issues that are making the lives of senior citizens more difficult. The issues include psychological factors, anxiety, physical issues, and environmental issues. The research concludes while many factors are making the lives of senior citizens problematic, seniors are still living a satisfied life because they are not depending on their children or others. Senior citizens demand and desire time with their children and grandchildren. Increases found in elders’ psychological problems are likely correlated with modernization. Unfortunately, the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the mega project remain totally for the younger population with no economic prospects for elders to directly benefit. Thus, the question remains what will be the outcome for Pakistani seniors?     

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,behavioural and emotional problems in children excluded from mainstream education: a preliminary study of teachers' ratings

The aim of this study was to measure the rates of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and behavioural and emotional problems in children attending Behavioural Support Units (BSUs), as rated by teachers. Children (N=45) were selected from two Behavioural Support Units (primary and secondary education). Teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the ADHD Rating Scale. The levels of hyperactivity and emotional problems were high among primary school age children. Children attending primary school age BSUs had significantly higher hyperactivity and emotional scores than their older counterparts. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on ADHD and other mental health problems in children. The implications for the provision of services for children excluded from mainstream education are also discussed.