Surprised by what hasn’t changed
Today is my birthday. Well, thank you, but I think that perspective is one of the great blessings of getting older. Birthdays always make me reflective, and on this forty-third one, looking back highlights so much change.
My childhood was free of video games, the internet, a cell phone, and children’s programing--except what the lovely people at PBS put together. I watched The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, MTV, Freeform (which, fun fact, was originally called The Family Channel, airing old episodes of the Walton’s and Little House on the Prairie) develop. I watched an entire consumer segment emerge and explode.
My own memories hold images of being in my family room watching The Berlin Wall being torn down. (I still remember why the East German team in Cool Runnings was portrayed as the villains. (I remember that there was a movie called Cool Runnings)). I watched the night vision cameras broadcasting the missiles launched at Bagdad (the first time). I watched and waited and saw that Y2K was no big deal. The news channels made hanging chads into a big deal and before we knew it, the live feed of the towers falling was a very big deal.
I still feel youngish (unless there’s a mirror around) and yet, I’ve been around since the Carter Administration. I’ve gone from a remote that was attached to our television to TikToc. I watched George explain what the term “double dipping” meant to an audience who hadn’t heard the phrase before. Phoebe explained why she called someone a BFF. I know the origin of air quotes. When I went away to college, I was given a guide on how to use the internet (and I needed it). I saw Bob Ross circle back into popularity. Carrie Bradshaw has now guided me through two phases of life and love.
Despite how old and young I feel, I’ve lived through enough historical events that the word unprecedentedmakes me shudder. I consider myself adaptable because I’ve gone from records, to cassettes, to compact discs, to illegal downloads, to iTunes, to streaming. I went from having to look things up and learn them by heart to having all the information (I mean all of it) in my hand.
I wouldn’t change my birth year for anything. I love living in this time, despite the challenges and fears. However, I worry--it’s interesting to me, that after all that I’ve seen change, one thing that is still familiar is my son’s high school curriculum. Sure, he turns in assignments in a new way—but they’re basically the same assignments. He has better technology, but he’s learning the same things. He’s being prepared for the world that I’ve lived through, not the one he will reflect on when he turns 43.
For instance, that new consumer segment that I mentioned earlier—well, it is now very established. Yet, while targeted by consumer products, are high schoolers learning to be savvy consumers at a young age? Cell phones, game consoles, and digital technology are all common for this age. What do they learn about digital responsibility, contracts, privacy, boundaries and safety? We’ve launched them into a new world, expecting them to memorize the periodic table, yet learning little about the computer science that touches every aspect of life. We’ve given them access to the world, yet they know very little about the history of the last 50-100 years. We’re letting them learn their world by trial and error and then we marvel at the rising stress-levels, health concerns, suicide and violence rates amongst adolescents. I unfortunately do not have any answers…only concerns. I think it is time to take a hard look at what knowledge and understanding needs to be the new foundations of education.