As our kids march off to school or college in the coming days, a nagging question presents itself: Why are they so goddamn calm? Or are they numb?
I realize they occupy their own little world, but here's a reality check: Confronting them is a stalled economy and a stalemated government. That translates into big college loans and no job prospects.
Even more confounding, the young people throughout the rest of the world are far from calm -- in fact, they're in a state of revolt. There are riots in London, Israel and Spain and violent demands for change across the long-languid Arab world.
In the U.S., by contrast, the only protests last week involved foreign students, not Americans. Visiting students from Turkey, China, Romania and other countries rallied against a State Department program that was supposed to provide them with travel and education and instead locked them into a factory assembly line with long hours and skimpy pay. The foreign kids were angry and let everyone hear about it. Their American friends looked on in silent awe.
There's one intriguing footnote: The passivity of our young people seems to mirror the traits of the characters featured in Hollywood's recent movies -- the disoriented stoners in the Hangover sequel or the losers in Horrible Bosses or the passive nonaggressives like Steve Carrell in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Even a couple of the superheroes seem self-doubting -- witness Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern. Are our young people emulating the traits of the characters they see in the movies or on TV, or is the other way around?
For perspective, consider the cast of characters who inhabited our pop culture in the '60s or '70s. The protagonists of Easy Rider or Coming Home would be totally out of sync in today's society. Even The Godfather was about characters building a new parallel power structure, not easing into the established one.
None of this is to suggest that taking to the streets is the only effective means to register dissent. Those of us who lived through the waves of violence and the assassinations of the '60s fully understand the price paid for these actions. As a newsman, I personally covered my share of riots and ducked fusillades of bullets.
On the other hand, most of us learned to revere the courage displayed during the civil rights movement and even during the protests over Vietnam. The country's mood was energized by protest, not passivity.
So where does this leave us today? As parents, perhaps it's time to kick ass, to remind our kids that it takes tough people to survive tough times.
And as far as Hollywood is concerned, it would be useful to make an occasional movie about characters who actually affects other people's lives. Who would have thought that a little film called The King's Speech would hit $417 million in worldwide gross? And then there's the anomaly of The Help, which is a big hit despite the disdain of prominent critics. The film touches audiences; to get it made DreamWorks and its first-time filmmaker had to lock in funding representing India, Abu Dhabi and a techie billionaire. This would suggest that the major studios are as wimpy as the characters in their films.
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Can we expect a follow up? An apology from Mr. Bart for so quickly dismissing this generation as numb?
the coming days, a nagging question presents itself:
Why are they so goddamn calm? Or are they numb?â€
Well let's see, the Kaiser Family Foundation has
done another media study "Generation M2: Media in
the Lives of 8 to 18 Year Olds", released January 2010.
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm
According to the study, kids 8-18 are spending,
on average:
(From Page 2)
4:29 hours per day watching TV
4:54 hours per day watching TV/movies
That is, kids 8-18 are spending almost
5 hours per day being rewarded over and
over again for passively sitting in front
of the TV and doing nothing. This is called
classical conditioning, and example of
classical conditioning is teaching kids
to be very passive.
In addition with all the TV commercials,
kids are also learning to be good little
consumers. And with all the violence on Tv
they are learning to be callous and lacking
in empathy.
In other words, TV is teaching kids to be
both selfish and passive. Not characteristics
that lead to action and change.
“As parents, perhaps it's time to kick ass, to remind
our kids that it takes tough people to survive tough times.â€
After years of parents using TV as an electronic
babysitter, it takes a certain amount of gall to now
be demanding that their kids all of a sudden toughen up.
The bleeing heart boomers and wishy-washy Obama types are the epitome of the problem - Do you know how easy it would of been to crush the tea bagger movement in it's infancy, or to put the religious wing nuts in their place?
I'm not looking to educate/persuade anyone, I'm not looking to make friends or build bridges, I have agendas and will see them enacted by whatever means necessary.
That moral high road the peace-and-love generation is so committed to? It dead ends in Loserville, and I avoid that place like the plague.
When we look at the 50s,60s, and 70s sure music and movies were different. But did that alone cause the rise of protest? I don't think so. Many involved in protest were aided by older communities that shared knowledge and strategies. For example, SNCC was aided by ELDERS. This expression goes back to a saying we all learned as children, lead by example.
So if there is a problem with this young generation, I think the older generations need to evaluate if they are encouraging, or diminishing our chances at success. Lead by example.
In other countries, people are rioting in the streets or hosting sit-ins. The US is too large for that and they're on to those tricks now. Basically most of us are either waiting for the Baby Boomers to die or just waiting for the whole thing to collapse. Call it a Nihilistic Crisis, Spin Fatigue, or just call us a bunch of names and blame technology. We're constantly being lied to, manipulated, exploited, and treated like obstacles. Speak up and it's prison for you. I think everyone has decided to focus on survival and hope that everything falls apart quickly enough that we might get to rebuild, if there is anything left to rebuild.
If the rioting ever actually *does* start, though, don't expect anyone to act like they have anything to lose. I suspect that widespread riots, once started, probably wouldn't extinguish easily or quickly. Scary food for thought. I'm planning on staying inside until they put away the guillotines.
I find it is much more productive to find out what is broken and to join with those who are interested in moving the USA into an inclusive and socially progressive nation. Setting up social groups against each other is a tactic used to preclude actual change. I prefer to actively work for a better America and to strongly hope in a better country.
the problems seem never-ending and vastly more complex than ever before, and there is so much partisan bickering that they just want to tune it out becuase they don't think anything they can actually do (ie protest) will actually CHANGE ANYTHING. Whether or not that's merely cynical, or 100% true, that's how they feel.
Social Media is their version of gatherings or protests. they think they can't make a difference unless they're protesting in DC--and they'd rather spend that money on alcohol or concert tickets. and the last time there were any widespread protests--vietnam--is ancient history to them.
its a "Perfect Storm" to make a very unconcerned, demotivated generation.
I think Bart fails to recognize how heart broken disenfranchised, and confused these young people (and frankly all people who worked for O) feel by how he has governed. I know he's done some important things--repeal of DOMA, Bin Laden, etc. But his lack of story telling, lack of negotiating skills and lack of leadership on the economy and jobs has only worked to strengthen the tea party fringe right so that 3 years later , these young people feel more disenfranchised than ever.
The election fo Obama was a big deal for millions of young people. A big effing deal as Biden would say. But it soured when it emerged that O was himself afraid of standing up to the Republicans. The experience demoralized their sense of idealism.
And yes, even so, we have to vote for him again over any Republican but the writer should not underestmate how much the wind was knocked out.
1. After 9 hours of work, and 2 hours of commuting, that leaves just a little bit of time to take care of personal issues, and mabey have and hour to play video games or watch tv. I bet I play less games than most older people watch television.
2. Unless your a big agressive guy, or a thin beutifull girl, most peoples spirits are prety much crushed by 18. Most people would rather accept there place in the world, and try to find a little joy, than fight an uphill battle. Mabey we are just more zen. We learn to be happy with less. It's adaptation to a competive world.