Never rolled down a car window?
Posted by Kirk M on 11 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: Times a changing
BELOIT COLLEGE’S MINDSET LIST®
FOR THE CLASS OF 2011
Would you believe believe that the freshman that entered college this fall might not have ever rolled down a car window in their life? Or how about these others:
- They never saw Johnny Carson live on television.
- The space program has never really caught their attention except in disasters.
- MTV has never featured music videos.
- Being a latchkey kid has never been a big deal.
- American rock groups have always appeared in Moscow.
And there’s 64 more items listed about the class of 2011 in the list, some of which we old(er) folks might not have realized. It took me by surprise, that’s for sure. It just goes to show that it never pays to take our world view as valid. Especially in what the next generation may take for granted in theirs.
Technorati tags: mindset list, class of 2011, world views, perception
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4 Comments »
on 12 Oct 2007 at 6:26 pm 1.John Hunter said …
True. I think a fair number of people talk about all the things the younger set might not understand in the same way. I find it interesting to go the other direction too. 100 years ago no-one had air conditioning. Or in other parts of the world. Today, billions of people have to struggle to get clean water and enough food not to starve.
on 12 Oct 2007 at 8:56 pm 2.JaniceNW said …
Their loss. And they will never think that way. I’m excited to find someone besides myself who remembers the Cold War! My boys, 16 and 19, have no clue what it was like to grow up under the threat of nuclear war. They say “Oh yeah, the Cold War thing.” They cannot comprehend being brought up with this very real fear in our lives. I studied much about The Soviet Union, it’s history, it’s literature and how that all played into Orwell’s Animal Farm. It may be info I cannot use to make a living but I feel it was history well learned.
Think of some of the freedoms we have had that the class of 2011 will miss. No answering machines, not being tied down to an electronic Device! When I was at college, the first time, I talked to my mom a few times a month, the class of 2011 talks to their moms a few times a day. How will they learn independence? I’m not sure. I think computers and the internet are great inventions but I don’t think the kids can appreciate how much privacy they have sacrificed.
JMHO.
on 13 Oct 2007 at 2:05 pm 3.KirkM said …
John,
I’m like you in the fact that I like looking both ways in history and what we had then and now. And it’s true that there are billions of people in the situation you state. Too many people for the area they occupy. Ironic that it’s always us that are the last to adjust our ways to a changing world.
BTW, welcome to my corner of the world!
on 13 Oct 2007 at 2:38 pm 4.KirkM said …
Hi Janice,
Now that’s one packed comment! You and I would have much to talk about and maybe having a few teenagers around to overhear the conversation wouldn’t hurt at all. Unfortunately they’re going to have their own conflicts to worry about I’m afraid. I hope not though.
We had a saying in the sub force that the best place to be if a nuclear war broke out was “ground zero”. Believe it or not, one of the thoughts that haunted every Cold War submariners mind was that the safest place to be was right where we were–a nuclear powered, fast attack submarine (most of the missile boats would have been toast once they launched anyway). So what would there be worth coming back to? The general public really had no idea that their world could have ended in less than 40 minutes, how close it had been to actually happening and that the unlucky ones would have been the survivors.
And “Animal Farm” was on my required summer reading list along with “Of Mice and Men”, “Fahrenheit 451″ and “1984″ starting in junior high. They had more impact on me and gave me more understanding then anything else during that era. I wonder if the schools require those same classics now?
I’m split on the privacy thing. To me, the major player in inciting every controversy, conflict and outright war has been a lack of communication so what you say may actually be a asset in that area but the flip side is that the majority of the youger generation do not question the fact that no matter where they might go in a city or even small town that there is a high probability they’re being picked up by a camera, or two, or three. I really don’t concern myself with it personally. It was bound to happen sooner or later and the lesson that needs to be learned here is not to use this technological power to “control” people but rather enhance their lives instead. People will always (finally) dig in their heels when it comes down to their basic freedoms, what do you think?
Wow! You really tripped something in me there. Much appreciated! I haven’t had the excuse to say something like this in a long time. Let me know what you think.