I'm interested in the idea of generational markers. For many years after the assassination of JFK, many people remembered exactly what they were doing when they heard the news. For me, it mainly meant that a local variety show would be off the air until after the funeral (a shout-out to anyone who has heard of Wallace and Ladmo). I was very distressed about RFK, though.
A few years ago, I had high school students write about how they first learned about 9/11. All had clear memories. But for the past 3 weeks I have been working with children born in 2005-2007, and I don't know of any analogous experience for them.
I remember nuclear attack drills at school, being a 5-year-old Beatlemaniac, looking at LIFE magazine pictures of My Lai and hearing "Let it Be" for the first time in the "Paul is dead" hysteria.
On the other hand, I missed widespread fear about polio, and other events of the 1950s some here may remember.
Are generations an illusion? "Baby Boomer" is very useful shorthand, but do generations labeled Gen X, Gen Y or "millennials" have their own common markers?
Children I've worked with recently take for granted the Internet and smart phones; they are majority "minority" and often bilingual, and I wonder what their generational markers will be.
A couple of years ago I bought my first smart phone and found out that limited "minutes" were pretty much gone. I still boggle at how many machines this device incorporates. I look ahead to the possibility that they will enable large-scale surveillance of half the planet. And this technology is well on its way to being totally taken for granted.
But I don't mean this as a dystopian rant. I'm gratified to encounter 10-year-olds whose favorite band is the Beatles.
A few years ago, I had high school students write about how they first learned about 9/11. All had clear memories. But for the past 3 weeks I have been working with children born in 2005-2007, and I don't know of any analogous experience for them.
I remember nuclear attack drills at school, being a 5-year-old Beatlemaniac, looking at LIFE magazine pictures of My Lai and hearing "Let it Be" for the first time in the "Paul is dead" hysteria.
On the other hand, I missed widespread fear about polio, and other events of the 1950s some here may remember.
Are generations an illusion? "Baby Boomer" is very useful shorthand, but do generations labeled Gen X, Gen Y or "millennials" have their own common markers?
Children I've worked with recently take for granted the Internet and smart phones; they are majority "minority" and often bilingual, and I wonder what their generational markers will be.
A couple of years ago I bought my first smart phone and found out that limited "minutes" were pretty much gone. I still boggle at how many machines this device incorporates. I look ahead to the possibility that they will enable large-scale surveillance of half the planet. And this technology is well on its way to being totally taken for granted.
But I don't mean this as a dystopian rant. I'm gratified to encounter 10-year-olds whose favorite band is the Beatles.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1PyLrNJ
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire