Here are six reasons to include the five living generations, who either live or work in your community, in an Intergenerational Dialogue process on Homeland Security:
1. People of all ages are asking, "What can I do to help at this time." If you begin thinking about homeland security across all five generations, you will have the largest pool of resources to choose from in making your city or town safer and more secure.
2. Generational organizing is the most inclusive strategy for having a diverse Dialogue. After all, everyone is a member of a generation! Use the five generations as a base from which to start your Dialogue planning, then invite representatives in your community, from every walk of life. Your goal for this Dialogue should be to make the evening the most diverse meeting anyone in the community has ever attended.
3. You need the participation of all five generations to effectively prepare for homeland security. Each generation brings specific gifts and talents to your efforts. Young people "know" the streets better than most older people. Older generations understand the importance of phone trees and crime watch. Younger adults often serve as police and fire fighters. By including all generations, you will add value to local preparedness planning.
4. Different generations also respond differently to public information media. The older generations respond better to print and radio; Boomers better to television and electronic media; and younger generations respond better to the Internet and more interactive media. You need to include all the generations in local security planning so you can find out the best ways to communicate with them in the event of an emergency.
5. The Al-Qaida terrorist training manual instructs would-be terrorists to find places to live where people don't know each other. These are communities where neighbors don't know or care who are their neighbors. Knowing your neighbors from all generations is perhaps the strongest and most immediate form of homeland security every city can initiate.
6. One of the primary goals of terrorism is to make people feel isolated and afraid. A robust effort to include all the generations in planning, training, and other homeland security efforts, will help your community feel more connected. One of your homeland security goals should be that nobody in your city should feel isolated or alone in these difficult times. When people feel that way, the terrorists have won.
We have developed a Tool Kit to provide communities with complete step-by-step directions for how you can organize a Homeland Security Intergenerational Dialogue in your community.
The Intergenerational Dialogue Toolkit contains:
• An introduction to the process
• How to get ready for the Dialogue
• Invitation Process—How do you select participants and get them to come?
• Things to do before the evening of the Dialogue
• How to conduct the Dialogue
• Facilitator’s Script for conducting the Dialogue
• Things to think about before you begin
• Sample Intergenerational Dialogue Agenda
• Diagram of the Circle of Generations
• How to develop Generational Questions
• How to facilitate small group discussion and reports from small groups
• Suggested Follow-up Activities and Plans
• Appendix of scripts and letters of invitation, and sample forms, flyers, and agendas.
The Tool Kit is extremely cost effective
The Tool Kit comes to you electronically in a PDF format for $150 (for communities of 50,000 or fewer) or $250 (for communities above 50,000.) We strongly recommend that that you use this process in neighborhoods or sub-divisions of your city with populations of 25,000 or less. If you are unable to open a PDF file, we provide a link to a website where you can download Acrobat Reader at no cost. If you would also like a hard copy of the Tool Kit in color—the same document you will receive on-line—there will be an additional cost of $35 plus $3.50 shipping and handling (plus 6.65% Minnesota tax for MN residents). We take all major credit cards. After your purchase, you can make as many copies of the Kit as you need for your city or town.
For additional fees, Dr. James Gambone and Mayor Sue Gehrz are available on a limited basis to consult with you and facilitate your Homeland Security Dialogue, if you prefer to not do it yourself.
If you have any questions, please call 800-586-9054 or e-mail to: pointsofview@earthlink.net
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