Document final — Les jeunes

The Synod recognizes the dedication of many parents and teachers who are deeply committed to the transmission of values, notwithstanding the difficulties of the cultural context. In some regions, the role of the elderly and reverence for ancestors are key elements for education and contribute strongly to the formation of personal identity. The extended family – which in some cultures is what the family really means – also plays an important role.Some young people, though, find family traditions oppressive and they flee from them under the impulse of a globalized culture that sometimes leaves them without points of reference. In other parts of the world, though, there is no actual generational conflict between young people and their elders, but rather a mutual estrangement. Sometimes older people do not try or do not succeed in transmitting the basic values of life or else they adopt “youthful” styles, reversing the relationship between generations. In this way the relationship between young people and their elders risks remaining on the affective level, leaving the educative and cultural dimensions untouched.