Are you feeling old   
                Kid's Knowledge of history

(posted 1997)

Are you feeling old? If not, consider this:
  
 The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were
 born in 1980.
 
 The Iranian hostage crisis occurred before they were conceived.
 
 They missed the TALL SHIPS and the entire Bicentennial celebration.
 
 They have no memory of a time before M-TV.
 
 "New Wave" is their PARENTS musical generation.
 
  Cyndi Lauper, Boy George, the Pretenders, the Kinks, the Sex Pistols
  are all old music they have heard of, if they have heard of it at 
  all.
 
  They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era.
 
  They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
 
  If they have heard the name "Oliver North," it was probably as a
  losing Congessional candidate, or perhaps in some obscure survey
  history text's reference, such as might be made to Huey Long or 
  Teapot Dome.
 
  Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
 
  Their world has always included AIDS.
 
  Having not lived through the Disco Scare, they can romanticize the
  1970s.
 
  They see "Family Ties" as something middle aged ladies watch.
 
  They watched "Star Wars" years ago, when they were kids -- on video.
 
  Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums and cassette audiotapes.
 
  From their earliest years, a camera was something you used once and
  threw away.
 
  As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.
 
  The oil crisis is history of which they probably know nothing --and
  why anyone WOULDN'T buy a Suburban is beyond them.
 
  Most of them have probably never seen a real nun, even if they went
  to Catholic schools.
 
  Since they were taking social studies about places outside the US
  (4th or 5th grade) that big orange country on the northern half of
  Eurasia has been labeled "Russian Federation,"
 
  They never begged to stay up late to watch Saturday Night Live 
  because it has been lousy for pretty much their whole lives.
 
  They were too young to remember the first space shuttle flight
 
  Happy Days was canceled before they were born
 
  They probably have never encountered a TV with a dial, a rotary
  telephone, or "instant" popcorn that you make on a stove.


 
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