Which generation has it the best?
Okay, we had this as the topic of the day a couple of months ago but that was before we really had the site up and running, so we wanted to pose this question again now that we’re getting more site visitors. Which generation has it the best–kids today with their iPods, instant messaging, TiVo, and other gadgets, or earlier generations with their freedom to play outside, less structured lives, and greater innocence?
May 27th, 2007 at 10:42 am
I think it is true that as we baby-boomers were growing up we were not concerned about child abductions, internet predators, drive-by shootings and random attacks at schools and malls, leaving us freer than today’s kids to play outside and roam the neighborhoods without fear. However I would not necessarily vote for our generation as the “luckiest”. We also lived through some tough times socially and politically, including enduring the Kennedy, King and Kennedy assassinations, and witnessing the birth of the AIDS epidemic. I think our innocence was pretty short-lived. So, I guess my answer is — meh. Six of one?
May 30th, 2007 at 9:10 am
I think we (boomers) might have been better off as children because we could play outside without fear of the things flowerchild mentions. It also seems like there was just more innocence then than there is now. Or maybe it’s just my grownup nostalgia. Anyway, I miss those days.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
It’s hard to put myself in my teenage daughter’s or 20-something son’s place and see their growing up years through their eyes. Certainly they had far more material goods than I did growing up, and their view of the world is so much broader than mine was, thanks to the internet and cable TV. Also, schools were teaching them much more about the “real world” than they did when I was a student. But I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. If I were to ask my kids if they would have preferred growing up in the Leave it to Beaver days I’m sure they’d either laugh at me or react with scornful disbelief at the ridiculousness of the question. But they never knew what it was like to have friends right next door, to be able to ride bikes anywhere they wanted, to play hide and seek around the neighborhood, and to generally be free of most of the worries and stress they take for granted. It’s a tough question–who has it better. Maybe both generations had it equally good, but in different ways. Now, if you were to ask that question about the difference between those growing up in the Depression and the Baby Boomers, that would be a pretty easy decision. I don’t think very many Depression-era children remember those days fondly unless they were sheltered from the economic realities of the day.
May 31st, 2007 at 5:54 pm
I don’t know if you’re right about the Depression-era kids, Katie Laurel. Maybe they looked back fondly at the good old days of playing kick the can, and gathering around the family radio to enjoy “Fibber McGee and Molly,” or “The Lone Ranger.” It seems like all of us who survive childhood have some fond memories of it. I don’t think any generation is envious of the previous, or resentful of the next. I imagine we are all pretty chauvinistic about our own eras.
June 12th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
I think the baby boomers had it better. The freedom to explore the city without nearly as much worry of abduction. The chance to play in your neighborhood with your friends and not have to drive somewhere to find a park. The chance to be active and learn sports from older siblings. Not to have your only experience on a team be very structured even at 5 years old. Even though we did not have many stations to watch on TV the shows we watched seemed that much more special like weekly movies on “The Wonderful World of Disney”. My son seems to prefer an internet game to any real-life experience and that seems sad. I forgot to mention, school seemed safe, certainly not something kids can say after Columbine and other school shootings.