What have we taught our young – our kids, grand kids, and even great grand kids? I’d really like to know. We judge young people for their patterns, trends, and priorities – but what have we really taught them anything?
Anything?
I blame parents and I blame education. How much time have you ever spent teaching your kids how to launch and how to survive? Baby Boomers have a lot to answer for here because too many young people don’t know how to fill out a job application, write a check, put a stamp on an envelope, or check oil in a car.
There’s a legitimate reason for this.
Boomers birthed the latch-key generation – which came as a result of working couples being gone most of the day. Dual incomes, two cars, vacation homes, day trading, gourmet ice cream, five bedrooms and three baths, luxury cruises, and a whole lot else – stuff we didn’t really need.
The Greatest Generation not only handed us the benefits of a prospering economy and a free society, but they also made us hunger for more. We’ve just had to have it all – meaning we haven’t lived within our means. We are the credit generation, drowning in perpetual debt.
I believe our parents and mentors wanted us to have it better than they did. But did they also inspire us to want more? Maybe they gave us a little too much.
I also know they taught us how to survive as did education. We were taught how to write in cursive, fill out a check and manage a bank account, how to fill out an application, clean up after a meal, empty the trash, and how to operate a clothes washer. We entered the adult world ready. Not all of us have scored well.
Why do so many young people today not know how to go forth and survive? They don’t understand what is needed to survive and be successful – stuff we take for granted in ourselves because we were taught these skills as we came of age. Most of us automatically know how to write a check, clean up the kitchen and scrub a toilet, fill out a job application, apply a postage stamp to a letter, take medication, vote in an election, and know to lock a door when we leave the house.
Education was a broader spectrum in those days – teaching the trades, home economics, math skills, auto shop, physical education, art class, history in much greater detail, sociology, and how to clean up after ourselves. Leaving a mess behind was never acceptable and there were real consequences if we did. When it was time to learn how to drive, there was Driver’s Education – and consequences if we broke the law and got a ticket.
Accountability…
Does anyone born beyond the 1980s know anything about World War II, Korea, or Vietnam? What about the assassinations of the 1960s – JFK, RFK and Dr. King? What about the music sensations of our time – The Beatles, Herb Alpert, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Elton John, James Taylor, or The Rolling Stones? It is remarkable how much we haven’t shared with our young.
I firmly believe electronics and social media have created a disconnect we will likely never emerge from. We are all caught up in it. Everywhere you go, there’s someone immersed in a cell phone or tablet. This, in and of itself, has spawned a disconnect that has both connected and divided society.
Boomer Journey... 