Has this pattern continued? Bad kids in one generation, good kids in the next

[Rilchiam]

So it’s 2013, and I think enough time has gone by to examine a theory put forth in a book that was published in 1960, and that I read in the early 1980s.

A sixteen year old guy (16 in 1960, so a true Boomer) wants a buy a junk car for the purpose of customizing it. Mom is opposed and dad (WWII vet, so a true Greatest Generation member) is on the fence, because at that time, a car-crazy boy was seen as disposed to be a “bad” kid by definition. He’s more interested in working with the engine than hot-rodding around, but even that is seen as not the best use of his time.

Dad gives in, though, because his own upbringing makes him less inclined to judge. See, when he was in high school, his parents disapproved of his fascination with sports. They were convinced that he would drop out of school and be a bum. But now he’s in his forties, he’s an athletic coach and a teacher, upstanding member of the community, married, two kids, owns his house: everything his parents would have wanted for him, even if he went about it a different way. Dad reflects on society in the 1930s.

Originally posted by Henry Gregor Felsen
…in those years when people wanted to portray a shiftless, worthless teen-age boy in the movies or a story, they pictured him carrying a baseball glove and devoted to sports. Now the baseball glove was the badge of the good boy, and the no-good kid of the present was the one who wore motorcycle boots and gave his time to hot rods. And tomorrow? Would tomorrow’s adults be raising money to attract boys to belong to community car clubs, and buy them boots and leather jackets, while there was some new kind of teen-age villain for them to deplore?

IMO, he was right, to some extent. Being a mechanic is now seen as a good, honest profession, and NASCAR is a multi-million dollar industry. What replaced hot-rodding as the Big Bad was rock music. Degenerates had guitars and long hair. Now, though, we have politically correct rock musicians giving millions to charity. Rap overlapped this a bit, but now there are gentleman rappers who also give millions to charity. And seriously, a lot of it comes down to money. When DiMaggio got a million dollars, pro ball became something to aspire to. Elvis was seen as a lot less of a punk after he bought Graceland.

Has this pattern continued? And if so, what is the Big Bad today? I’m not asking about things that are objectively bad, like being in a gang. I mean the this-follows-that mindset. “If my son is into cars, he’ll want to join a gang” –> “If my son is into rap, he’ll want to join a gang.” Or correlation/causality: sex and drugs do tend to follow rock’n’roll, but you don’t have to be in a band to find sex and drugs!

I’m thinking the Big Bad today (and I’m not saying it is bad) may center around social media. Another trend that caused friction in the late 60s and early 70s was young people having opinions and expressing them loudly and often. That’s happening a lot on the net today. Along with World of Warcraft, of course. Which is another conflict. “D&D makes you worship Satan!” No, I think we’ve discredited that. “Playing video games increases violence!” Not necessarily. “Well, it increases slacking!” …Can’t entirely deny that.

Just asking, because now we’re into a different century, and I wonder what that author and his characters would think of the changes that have taken place since then.

[Sattua]

Interesting, I’ve observed something like this in my own family, though I always thought of it as money driven alternating with passion driven. One generation grew up poor, so it works hard to succeed financially and socially. Their kids grow up in privilege but see the things their parents sacrifice, so they grow up determined to do things they truly love regardless of money… lather rinse repeat.

[chappachula]

in those years when people wanted to portray a shiftless, worthless teen-age boy in the movies or a story, they pictured him carrying a baseball glove and devoted to sports. Now the baseball glove was the badge of the good boy, and the no-good kid of the present was the one who wore motorcycle boots and gave his time to hot rods

basically, anything that’s new is suspicious, but after it’s been around for 30 years, it can become respectable. In the 1930-40’s sports was not seen as a respectable way to make a living, so kids who spent all their time on the sandlot with a baseball glove were “Shiftless”, bums, or worse. Sports became acceptable only after it became more mainstream.

A decade later, it was the same with the latest new technology: cars and hot rods.People were scared of kids who spent too much time with them. Most families had never owned a car before, so nobody had ever seen a kid who devoted all his time to cars. It became acceptable only when the car became a major part mainstream culture, from which you could make a respectable living.

In the 60’s it was music. People were scared of kids who spent too much time at it. But it became more respectable as the technology improved, more people began buying steroes and listening, and rock music became a part of mainstream culture.

Today, we see kids playing D&D or World of warcraft, etc…But I doubt if that will ever be as well accepted, because gaming won’t ever become a part of mainstream culture from which you can earn a good living.