From long-term life companions to children messing around... How have the relations between neighbors changed and what does the young generation lose by not communicating with the people they meet in the stairwell?? | Teen Ink

From long-term life companions to children messing around... How have the relations between neighbors changed and what does the young generation lose by not communicating with the people they meet in the stairwell??

May 9, 2024
By elzeky BRONZE, Vilnius, Other
elzeky BRONZE, Vilnius, Other
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Built for writers in the Soviet era, today the apartment complex houses writers, teachers, tailors, and lawyers under one roof. Can these individuals have any significance for the youth who have come to adore television and are still looking for their dreams? No. Or perhaps!? Or perhaps the tales of these individuals, packed with anecdotes from the Soviet era, the deficiency years, reconstructed Lithuania, and nostalgic backyard friends, could contribute to a young person's personal development?

A study involving residents of an apartment building built for writers in Vilnius during the Soviet era showed that not a single person living in the stairwell knows all of their neighbours, and the majority of residents (57%) only sometimes initiate a conversation with their neighbours.

After all, why did a house built four decades ago, which united professionals of the same trade, lose its sense of community? Why don't the old, the young, and the grey haired get along with their neighbours? Respondents highlighted that they no longer communicate with their neighbours due to lack of time, generational differences, and because others are strangers or because of their unacceptable behaviour.

It makes you wonder: How can neighbours get closer? What communication methods can be used to encourage neighbouring communities to come together? These questions were answered by the same old, young, and grey-haired residents of the staircase. Residents shared that when trying to bring the community together, celebrating the name day of the street and having a joint dinner with neighbours would help. But the question is one that is easier to answer than to carry out the described actions.

Of course, the older residents of the house fondly remembered the warm community of the house as soon as everyone moved in with their families—how they welcomed the new year together or the philosophising literary scholars who were happy to teach their knowledge to those who listened. You can't deny that the staircase, where you could once find "good morals" or borrow spices from Žilinskaite, today lacks immediacy and community.

Who needs neighbours? All interviewees agreed that it is extremely important to develop social skills from an early age because, in any career field, it is extremely useful to understand human body language, facial expressions, and emotions. One of the best ways to practice these skills is with your backyard friends. Already causing nostalgia for most, yard friends are seen as perhaps the best memories, without which it would have been more difficult for the generation that has grown up and matured to communicate. However, not only peers contribute to personality maturity but also communication with older people. The old residents of the house have accumulated experience and knowledge not only about the household but also various career branches, and if you are lucky, you can hear stories about your ancestors.

In conclusion, young people need to communicate with their neighbours because it promotes community and skills that can only be developed when a person belongs to a community. The lack of sociability later affects when trying to integrate into any team; it is difficult to start conversations, recognise other people's emotions, and be able to react quickly.



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