Today's Kids

Nov. 24th, 2006

We can all remember our days as a teenager, and the trials and tribulations that go with living in a world controlled by “outdated” adults that just don’t understand what’s cool. Among other things I remember listening to my Father grinding his teeth and complaining to all and sundry that “This younger generation is going to hell in a hand basket”. I wasn’t really sure just what a hand basket was, and I never did understand why he objected to me listening to Elvis Presley on the radio. Somehow, with more than a few lumps, bumps, and bruises, I survived those teenage years, and I’ve since managed to live through raising a pair of teen-aged sons as well, boys whose idea of “music” was the noise from hell to me!

Still, social mores and values change from generation to generation. What my parents considered proper social behavior appeared rather old fashioned to me, and the values of today’s young people can best be described somewhat strange to folks of my generation. Consider what the reaction of someone from the Victorian era would be upon observing one of today’s rock concerts!

Since the early 1960’s the media has been quite fond of telling us almost daily how terrible American kids are, with a steady stream of stories about drugs, alcohol, juvenile gangs, and assorted heinous crimes. We are told that they think love of country is an old wife's tale, having been replaced by a rootless self-seeking search for a place where the most enjoyment may be had at the least cost. Certainly we constantly hear that the well publicized antics of Hollywood celebrities and the various Rock music stars are the sole role model of today’s young people. Their “greedy” lives are said to rest on the perceived belief that money is more important than anything else, and the man who commands their attention is the man of wealth, legally or illegally gained.

In the meantime our society has learned the politically correct doctrine that pain is evil, and thus the revolt against pain in all its forms has grown more and more marked. From societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals on up to rabid socialism, we express in numerous ways the notion that suffering is a wrong which can be and ought to be prevented, and a whole literature has come into being which points out how hard it is to be wounded in the battle of life, how terrible, how unjust it is that any one should fail. We are told that youth unites in longing for a society in which they may be comfortable and may shine without any effort, trouble, or danger.

Even science has its part in these tendencies we see. It has severely shaken established religion in the minds of many. It has pursued analysis of all until at last this thrilling world life, of motion, color and sound has seemingly resolved itself into one vast mathematically defined network, an aimless web where the rainbow flush of cathedral windows, which once appeared to be the very smile of God, fades slowly out into the pale irony of physical laws.

We’re told that our nations youth are “going to hell in a hand basket”, generally by the same people who constantly extol the virtues of drugs, alcohol, illicit sex, and a “get rich quick any way you can” lifestyle. It often appears that today’s media severely dislikes our young people.

I attended the November 13th Veterans Day assembly at GHS, wherein the program was dedicated to honoring our local veterans for their wartime service to our country. It’s my understanding that Mr. Sullivan’s Current Events class originated the idea, and that they pretty well arranged the program by themselves, a time consuming project that would definitely put a dent in their spare time, and that “insatiable pursuit of instant gratification” (said tongue in cheek) I keep hearing about. Watching the program they had prepared, I came to the conclusion that there is much more to these young people than meets the casual eye. There’s more to their lives than drugs, booze, nose studs, weird haircuts, or hard rock music. As we were leaving, I overheard a WW II veteran commenting that he was quite impressed, and that “the kids did a pretty good job”, a point I’ll readily agree with.

I agree with the idea that the American educational system needs an overhaul, with the emphasis being placed on the realities of life in a hard cruel world, rather than on the utopian world that some sociologists and educators think we should have. I think we do need to stress math, the sciences and history, much more than is present day practice. But then, the Veterans Day program also indicates to me that these students certainly do have an understanding, and I think an appreciation, of our nations history and culture, why we are the kind of people we are, and of our place in the modern world. I also hope they have a good idea of where we’re going. While I may not agree with them on every point, I suspect that works both ways.

I well know that there are kids in this country who definitely meet the media description of today’s young Americans, and through my travels I’ve run afoul of a few of them, primarily the aimless youth of the inner cities. But I also know that there are a good many more young’uns out there, of whom their parents can be quite justifiably proud. I met a few more of them the other day at GHS.

No, despite all the present day grumbling and growling over everything that’s “wrong” with the younger generation, I think we can safely leave the future of our nation in their quite capable hands.