Noise, incivility and much more

In the first normalized summer after the pandemic, sensitivity to various phenomena of noise pollution has been shot. The generalization of speakers connected by ‘bluetooth’ to mobiles, the recovery of spaces by young people after the two-year pandemic to share (also, music), the popularization of social networks with much more audible content and the use of text messages. voice versus text are one source of annoyance, if not of conflict, in spaces shared by several generations. On the beaches where everyone wants to enjoy their holidays in very different ways and at very different rates, in streets and squares after hours or on public transport, where the practice of listening to mobile content without headphones does not even have the excuse of socializing through music in public spaces. And yes, by the way, a parallelism in the way in which users who have nothing of teenagers make the last detail of their mobile conversations known to the rest of the passengers or invasively occupy the space of others.

It may seem, at first, a summer anecdote that does not go beyond the natural frictions of daily coexistence (which in some municipalities has led to imposing fines and warning of the prohibition of these behaviors), seasoned by the umpteenth case of tense reaction intergenerational to a musical trend (this time reggaeton). But the anecdote can lead to a more general reflection on incivilitywhich is more than a matter of forms, or the very values ​​that are lived in families and transmitted to adolescents.

Like so many other generations, the combination of the necessary connection between the close ones and the isolation in relation to the aliens generates group rituals that (and this is the novelty in relation to other times) have new expressions conveyed by new technologies. Living together is a learning process in which the conception of the limit is explored, that is, the border between the freedom that is being discovered and the restrictions that limit it. But uncivic situations can hardly be avoided if one does not start from some fundamental principles of respect for others that should inspire all the norms that are acquired both at school and in the family. That the consequences of our actions on those around us do not deserve the slightest consideration is something that goes much further than intrusive or annoying practices in public space.

Experts warn that some young people have been educated from a hyper-paternity that is more accommodating to satisfy the wishes of their children than to accompany them in learning responsibility, which many perceive as a constraint and exercise of authority that is harmful to their evolution. . That, when the adult is not directly a living example of incivility. From there it can be derived an intolerance to frustration and a strong selfish component that can even affect the vision of the world and their ability to internalize behaviors of solidarity, altruism or collective responsibility. If we see what we are doing with our world maybe we should also conclude that we should aim higher, and not just to a whole generation of teenagers.

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