The Mycenaean

Every generation has their own slang, from the groovy boomers, to the rad gen x-ers, and the basic millennials. Each generation creates their own language, which the previous generation struggles to keep up with.

Recently, there has been an increase in slang from gen z and the rising highschoolers, generation alpha.

I am wondering if the new slang is creating a barrier between the students and teachers, and if that is making it harder for teachers to communicate their lessons to students. 

I interviewed three teachers, each born in a different generation: Mr. Craddock, gen z; Mrs. Hardy, Millennial’ and Mrs. Todd, gen x.

Mr. Craddock believes that being a younger teacher gives him an advantage in understanding his students. He even catches himself using slang with students, which he is not super proud of. 

Although Craddock can fit some relevant slang into conversations, there are still some words that he is not totally familiar with.

“They said ‘my fish is in texas’ and I thought they were talking about their actual fish, and they were talking about their boo-thang,” said Craddock.

Mrs. Hardy, the Millenial, said that knowing slang isn’t important as long as you can connect with them on a personal level. 

Hardy said, “You don’t need to use the slang to communicate with them.”

Hardy also believes that being a younger teacher helps with understanding students. 

Hardy said, “I definitely think so. Not even just the lingo, but just being able to relate to what they’re doing.”

Mrs. Todd is confident in her abilities to understand the younger generations’ slang, even though she is generation X, saying that she thinks she knows around 90% of it.

“Maybe about 90% of it, from teaching with kids, but I’m always learning more,” said Todd.

Mrs. Todd has been teaching for 34 years and said that slang has changed a lot over the years, but she never has a hard time understanding her students. 

I was surprised how confident the teachers are with their ability to understand today’s students. If really connecting with students is important to them, then putting effort into learning how to understand them is a fundamental step.