Being Young in Austria - Andrea Fischer

What does it mean to be young in the Austrian republic? Firstly, you could list all the topics adolescents deal with in every part of the world. As a young person, you begin to develop your personality and find and lose friends. You start to manage your own life, pre-choose a career path, and after all, try to enjoy the best time of your life.

Austria is a landlocked country with 9 billion people, who are as diverse as the country itself. People grow up in the city or in the countryside, both of which have their pros and cons. Especially in the countryside, there is a generational gap. A generation gap is a difference of opinions between generations regarding religion, behaviour and values. This is nothing new, although the gap has widened at the end of the 20th century and especially in the 21st century.

Youngsters often have to deal with prejudices, which can lead to self-doubt and an oppressed character. The root of those prejudices lay in insecurity of the elder generations, who do not fully understand the younger one. Although new technologies and digitalisation have been around for quite a while now, some people are still suspicious, which is understandable when considering the rapid changes in the last 20 years.

The credo of today’s generations is: Celebrate diversity! The evolving confidence in living and enjoying your sexuality and gender can confuse grandparents, as they mostly married young. They often don’t understand the mindset of nowadays’ young people. The idea of marriage and getting kids is not the ultimate goal in life anymore and along with that, gender norms also have shifted massively.

The reason why the generational gap is even wider in the countryside is, because developments evolve there a lot more slowly. In some villages there still exist old-fashioned thoughts on marriage, gender norms, and ways to live life. Also, access to more open minded education happens later on, when adolescents choose a high-school farther away.

Even though there’s still a place for improvement, it has to be said, that the older generations learn to adapt as well! There are a lot of people from older generations, who are beginning to genuinely accept and support the spirit of the youth in the countryside. Steps are also being taken by the youth to close the generational gap in Austria and increase understanding all over the world.