I seem to get these type of do you remember lists all the time, and sadly, I do often remember everything in the list. Sure we have the internet, DVDs, microwave ovens and satellite TV, but are things really better than they were in the days of Leave It To Beaver? When I was a kid, there was no need for Amber Alerts, metal detectors in schools, or the multitude of daycare facilities. Kids rode bikes in the streets, played baseball until it was too dark to see, and feared parents and authorities.
What is the root of these changes? Is it that those of my Baby-Boomer generation molly-coddled their children under the tutelage of Dr. Spock that is the root of all that is wrong with our society? Did the lessening of controls over what the media could exhibit contribute to the problem? Did feminism's ideal of the equality of women and their insistence that equality meant the abandonment of quality, at home, supervision of children factor into the dilemma?
I am appalled at visions of 11-year-old girls laying raped in ditches. I am aghast with stories of gangs of young hoodlums shooting up each other and innocents in drive-by shootings. I am sickened at the thought that our children are no longer safe from a multitude of vile predators, both adult and juvenile. I never envisioned in my carefree childhood that the future would hold all the horror it does. I just can't put my finger on why it has to be this way.
Posted by notGeorge at September 6, 2003 07:03 PMUmmm. Err...
Could it possibly because of the nationalization (and internationalization) of the news? My brother (adopted, like me) had a mother who was 13 when he was born. He was born in 1958.
Could it be because certain things just weren't reported back then? I had a friend when I was in Junior high school (and I was in a nice suburban town) whose mother had "murdered" her father, after having come into the house and finding my friend being held down by her father and being raped. That never made national news. Didn't even make the big state newspapers. Local rags only.
Her mother got 5 years. I thought she should have gotten a medal.
Perception is everything. I could leave my doors open and unlocked now. Chances are I wouldn't have a break-in (unless I left a sign outside advertising the fact). It's all in our minds.
Posted by: Kathy K at September 6, 2003 07:29 PMWhat are we, a bunch of old timers here?
I'll never forget the words of my 9th grade history teacher on the first day of class. He said the recently introduced McDonald's Big Mac marked an irrevocable change in society forever. True story.
Posted by: Marie at September 7, 2003 12:20 AMDo you remember a time when there were no "do you remember?" lists?
Posted by: McGehee at September 7, 2003 07:52 AMUh, pretty sure I never ran across a do you remember list before I became acquainted with the Internet and people were thinking of things to forward on AOL. ;)
Posted by: Tiger at September 7, 2003 12:59 PMI guess my take on it is, most parents nowadays don't bother to sit and spend time with their kids. The television is the prime babysitter now, followed by all those daycare facilities. So everyone grows up with a sense of removal from society, and a lack of responsibility.
You pointed out a good portion of the stuff that led to the state of kids today. It's scary, the idea that because I'm trying to raise my kid right--staying at home to take care of him, encouraging him to use his imagination, and not having a TV in the house--I'm probably going to make him an oddity in this modern society.
--TwoDragons
Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at September 7, 2003 01:55 PM