Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "Since the world has changed a lot in the past 50 years, the advice from grandparents is of no use for their grandchildren." Use specific reasons and details to support your opinion. ( This prompt is similar to topic as seen 2012-9-8)

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? 'The advice from grandparents has no use for their grandchildren because the world has changed a lot in the past 50 years." Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

(Essay topic from 2010-10-22 North America)

Apparently, grandparents nowadays do not give as much advice as grandparents did about half a century ago. Love being always the same, the grandparent-grandchild relationship has found its way in tune with educational and technological changes. In many cases, whether the advice from the old to the young is of use or not depends on whether such advice is requested or not.

It was then when children had more respect for the older members of the family and they took it for granted that the advice from grandparents should be of great importance. And it is now when most grandparents would do well to keep their mouths shut, and would rather keep their opinions to themselves until these are required. Simply put, modern grandparents tend to be short on criticism and long on love. It is as if the job of grandparents is only to spoil grandchildren and not to preach them. This can be seen in the vivid images in which grandparents play with their grandchildren like peers. Interestingly enough, by nature's way children tend to revolt against their parents but make friends with their grandparents. Thus, today's grandparents seem to know how to see the world through much younger eyes and do not want to bother providing unwanted advice, be it helpful or not.

These days, the advice offered by a grandparent to a grandchild is more like a lesson of history and family than a sermon to instill moral disciplines. This type of advice is of value because it teaches the child that family is a larger, more supportive concept than just Mom, Dad and siblings. Exactly it is during time spent with grandparents that children begin to learn about the family's history since grandparents are often more conscious of the family history and have more time to talk about it. However, beyond that, no other advice is as appreciated as grandparental love full of hugs and cookies. Compared with five decades ago, the grandparent-grandchild bondage in modern time is more about the generational friendship than the generational gap. So, the advice from a grandparent as a friend has use for a grandchild asking for guidance.

It becomes clear that upon request the advice from grandparents has use for their grandchildren; otherwise, giving advice for its own sake would sometimes sound like preaching. What is happening now is not the same as the time when there was no so much of technology and education for children. Nevertheless, it is important for a grandparent, being a friend, to provide the right advice at the right time.