The Science Eel wrote:Archbishop G! wrote:The Science Eel wrote:
Do kids today even talk about the 60s? It seems the 80s are as far back as they go, and even then it's only to giggle at the cheese.
When I taught Media Studies this sort of thing would crop up all time when we had to look at older clips of things. Their knowledge of decades is frankly terrible -they'd say things like "hippies -was that the fifties?" and you'd say "No, the fifties was Elvis and rock n' roll" "I thought that was the seventies?". I remember once getting into an argument with a lippy asian kid who insisted The Beatles were an eighties band and he wouldn't back down.
It's all a mish-mash to them.
Yes - I've found that in my teaching too - young Americans, even, think punk began in the nineties, or that The Beatles were big in the fifties.
It pissed me off but it's probably not fair to expect any kind of awareness - or is it? We feel it's 'wrong' when young people can't name the President of the US - is that really worse? it's definitely less relevant to them!
It's just popular culture dumbing down. The result of the commercilisation and increased egalitarianism that began in the 50's/60's. We're shallower and more insular as a society and this just reflects that.