Benefits of Intergenerational Programs (YOUTH)

Intergenerational programs, such as the programs offered by SAGE, offer both younger and older generations opportunities to interact with one another through ongoing, planned activities that are designed to achieve specific goals.  Young and old persons are important assets in these programs because their various talents and resources benefit one another as well as the community.  Benefits for youth and children involved in these programs include improvement of academic skills and performance, enhancement of social skills, and promotion of positive attitude/behavior (especially towards those of different generations).

Intergenerational programs have been shown to positively contribute to the development of children’s academic skills.  For example, students who participate in a ‘Book Buddies’ program, in which they practice reading and phonics with a senior citizen buddy, seem to show improvement in reading skills such as enhanced knowledge of alphabet letters with their correct sounds within spelling and the ability to identify words in isolation.  These benefits in reading are only the beginning!  Intergenerational programs have been proven to produce better student attendance as well as decreased discipline referrals.  These programs also influence the youth emotionally.  They affect the youth’s attitudes towards school, elders, and their own future because, through these programs, students have an increased awareness of aging issues of older adults.  Their perception of older adults has become more active, as they are more likely to interact with them outside of the classroom.  Through the adults in these programs, the younger generation gets the chance to learned varied skills such as handicrafts, performing arts skills, horticultural skills, traditional games, cultural history, etc.  These varied skills often correlate to the enhancement of  students’ self-esteem when they realize they can be proud of many talents, not limiting to academic scores.  Finally, intergenerational programs displayed an improvement of communication skills in students, including cooperation, communication, tolerance, concern, and respect for the limitations of others. 

“Wherever there are beginners and experts, old and young, there is some kind of learning going on, some kind of teaching.  We are all pupils and we are all teachers.” – Gilbert Highet