How do you define "Children of the <blank> Decade"?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was born in 1977. My memories of the 70s are very nebulous. Like, I remember wood paneling of the “old” house where my family used to live. And I kinda-sorta remember moving into the new house, which would have happened in the 70s as well. That’s pretty much it for direct experience, though. My memories really begin circa 1981, when I started nursery school.

So I think I’m a child of the 80s. All the toys I had were 80s toys. Cabbage Patch kids, check. My Little Pony (or the generic version thereof), check. He-Man action figures, check. I remember the evolution of video games clearly, from the Texas Instrument console my father would “borrow” from the school where he was a principal, to Atari (our family skipped that step for some reason), to Coleco Vision (Cabbage Patch Kids rocked!), to Nintendo. My Saturday morning cartoons were pure 80s. Snorks, Gummi Bears, Smurfs, Punky Brewster (remember Glomer?), and that God-awful Kissyfur. My childhood primetime line-up was also 80s. A-Team. Alf. Facts of Life. Small Wonder. The Cosby Show.

Now, I am familiar with pop culture of previous decades. When I would home from school, I would watch shows like Lassie, Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch, and Gilligan’s Island. But I recognized these were “old-timey” shows, not shows of my generation. I enjoyed Scooby-Doo but even as a kid I recognized them as kids who weren’t like me. They were wearing bell-bottoms, for Pete’s Sake (not to mention ascots or whatever it was Fred was always wearing).

My most important “current event” memory as a child was the Challenger explosion in 1986. I was in the third grade, and we weren’t in school that day for a reason that I cannot remember. I was sitting in front of our Coleco Vision console playing a game when my sister ran down the stairs and told me what happened. I recognized it was a major event only when we returned to school and I found out that a classmate’s uncle–Ronald McNair–had been on the shuttle. In addition to the Challenger, I remember all the early talk about AIDS and watching news stories about kids being segregated from classmates out of parental fears. I remember the murdered and missing children stuff in Atlanta circa 1983, since the project where the kids were being abducted from was just down the street from where I lived. I of course remember the more mundane stuff, like Michael Jackson’s hair being caught on fire, the stupid Geraldo Alcatrez thing, and Max Headrum!

My formative years were all spent in the 80s. When I think of childhood, I think of the 80s. So I think it is quite apt to call me and others born in the late 70s/early 80s “Children of the 80s.”

But I’m wrong, according to my older sister. She was born in 1969 but claims that she is a child of the 80s. She takes a more liberal intepretation of the phrase than I do, essentially defining it as someone who “came of age” during the 80s. “Coming of age”, whatever the hell that means, happens in adolescence, and since she was a teen during the 80s, that means that she can call herself a “child of the 80s.” Just like our parents call themselves “children of the 60s” even though they were born in the 40s.

My immediate reaction was “Hogwash!” I ain’t no child of the 90s. I spent practically half of the 90s in college! By the middle of the decade, my personality had been firmly established. How can you say that decade “shaped” me when I was already shaped halfway into it?

But then I thought about it harder and considered that my sister might have a point. After all, many of my favorite songs come out of the 90s (though I do enjoy 80s music for nostalgic reasons). When I think about the cringe-worthy outfits I used to wear, they were my attempts to mimic 90s fashion, not 80s (because as a real kid, I didn’t have power to buy my own clothes during that time and wasn’t hip enough to care). I experienced some important pop cultural events, like the emergence of grunge and “alternative” music, the massive appeal of hip-hop music and culture, and the appearance of prime-time dramas targeted specifically to young people (90210, Melrose Place, and New York Undercover). Was I affected by Kurt Cobain’s suicide? Not any more than the Challenger Explosion affected me, but I was definitely more interested in it than kids just a few years younger than me were. And I remember being far more emotionally affected by the LA riots (we had them in Atlanta as well) than anything that happened in the 80s.

If someone offered me the choice between all the episodes of the first five seasons of The Real World versus the first five seasons of The Facts of Life, I wouldn’t even have to think twice. I had to graduate from college before the spell of The Real World could be broken. So maybe I’m not as loyal to Tootie and the gang as I initially thought I was.

So am I child of the 80s or a child of the 90s? What is your idea of a “child of a decade.” What do you consider yourself and why?

2

I was born in 1978 and my experiences growing up match yours perfectly. I was also in year 3 in 1986 and remember Challenger clearly.

I grew up with Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Michael Jackson, Prince, Talking Heads and Dire Straits. I watched Inspector Gadget and Astro Boy.

Sure, I remember when “Smells Like Teen Spirit” leaped out from the radio. I loved Seinfeld and The X-files and especially The Simpsons. Pulp Fiction was the be-all and end-all.

But for top-shelf nostalgia, the '80s is my decade of choice. It just has greater pull to it compared to the '90s, even if I’d prefer to watch classic Simpsons over an episode of Family Ties any day. I had greater discernment in the '90s, but the '80s is infused with childhood memories the '90s will never have.

So I’m a child of the '80s, IMHO.

3

Another child of the '80’s checking in! I was born in '78, and watched the Challeneger happen live. (I was recovering from surgery) Whenever I ask,“What’s the 1st historical event you remember?” The Challenger is my answer.

4

I’m about 10 years ahead of the posters-so-far (born 1967), and I think of it this way: I was a child in the 70s, but I’m a child of the 80s. I guess adolescence defined me more than childhood did.

5

I would use whatever decades the years from 7-16 fell in. Those were my most formative years. Before the age of 7 I wasn’t really aware of pop culture. I was born in 1982, so I was a child of the late 80’s and the 90’s.

6

Picking when you are a teenager is silly. By that point, you’re no longer a child–so you can’t be a child of that decade.

That said, the real criteria is which decade you remember the best. And, also, you must remember that the abbreviated decades tend to not start on the exact date, anyways, especially when dealing with social concepts. See here for more.

7

Agreed. You’re a Child of the 80s. As am I (born 1981).

8

I was born in 1990, so I’d say I’m equal parts child of the 90s and child of the 00s.

I remember the fads of the late nineties, the teen pop explosion, Spice Girls, Pokemon, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, but my childhood also spilled over into the new decade, with the internet going fully mainstream, CDs being replaced by MP3s, the rise of mainstream hip-hop, shows like The O.C. being must-watch television (at least for people around my age).

If I had to choose one I think I’m more a child of the 2000s because I remember the entire decade - I can hardly be a real child of the 90s if I can’t remember anything pre-1996, can I?

9

Hey, that website is pretty cool. I’d never thought of it that way, but it’s true the 80s didn’t really begin until 1981. The signature song of that year, for me, is “Don’t You Want Baby” by Human League. I heard that song a quadrillion times growing up, but I clearly remember when it was brand new and everyone was singing it. That song was and still is the shit.

I’d say another sign of the end of the 70s was when people stopped wearing bell-bottoms. I wish I could say that was in 1981, but I clearly remember wearing some tight red polyester ones on the first day of kindegarten, which would have been 1982 (but maybe my mother was just not in the loop or something).

But I don’t know about the “which one you remember best” as criteria. I don’t remember the 70s at all. I remember the 80s well. But I remember the 90s even better, because it’s more recent and I was more involved with more elements of it. I think that rule needs to be reworded somehow.

One argument that I have against being labeled a “child of the 90s” is that it lumps me in with kids who are not Gen X. Even though 8 years separate me from my oldest sibling, we both agree that we are in the same generation because we had similar experiences. Like being a latch-key kid, having Boomer parents who largely ignored us, growing up without a PC (still remember typing school papers on an old Brothers wordprocessor…which would be unheard of today). And we listened to similar music. Admittedly, I’m at the tail end of Gen X while my sister is closer to the front end, but we have more in common to each other than I do with kids who WERE children of the 90s and grew up with email, the internet, cell phones, helicopter “Generation Jones” parents, and a pop music industry that had become one based first on look and youth, with talent taking second seat. In the 80s, you still had pop artists in their 30s, 40s, and 50s on the Top 40 playlist. That stopped once alternative and hip-hop took over. Who were the Bruce Springsteins, Michael McDonalds, Bruce Hornsbys, Phil Collins, and Pointer Sisters of the 90s? All I can think of are people in their 20s when I think of the top pop artists of the 90s, with the exception of folks who made their debuts in the 80s like Madonna, Michael Jackson, and U2.

10

I meant which one you remember the best as a kid. What I’m saying is that you can’t count a decade that you don’t really remember. If you watch I Love the 70s, and you don’t remember any of it, you probably aren’t a child of the 70s.

So, I guess the criteria should have been the first decade you remember clearly, not the one you remember the most. I’m saying both of you can be a child of the 80s, if that decade shaped you the most. But I’d guess your sister hit around 1975 or so.

11

I was a child in the Sixties
When dreams could be held through T.V.
With Disney and Cronkite and Martin Luther
And I believed, I believed, I believed

-Nancy Griffith

12

Everclear’s Art Alexakis was in his late 30s/early 40s when Everclear first hit it big in the 90s. Trent Reznor was also in his 30s when NIN were first popular (he’s 45 now). There’s plenty more where they came from.

Leann Rimes in every episode of I Love the 80s: “I don’t remember that.”

13

I’ve thought about this before, since being born in 1982, I feel like I would be a child of the 80s, but I don’t remember the Challenger, and only vaguely remember the A team, or He-man, or many things that were aimed at the preteens from that decade. For example, I remember watching my older cousins playing that game, Simon, but don’t remember seriously trying to play myself. My clearest memories of pop culture are TGIF, which started in the 80s, but in my opinion the shows had more of a 90s feel, the Ninja Turtles cartoon and movies, and things like slap bracelets and neon, which was a 90s thing, right? Although maybe the early 90s still count as the 80s for this sort of discussion.

14

I was born in '84 and I’m don’t remember much of it either, Omega Glory. I have some vague memories of the 80s cartoons that were still on in the 90s. But most of my memories are 90s things: when Nickelodeon was young and Doug and Rugrats ruled with an iron but not too franchise-y fist. And the Babysitters Club (well, that was 80s, too) and Are You Afraid of the Dark and Goosebumps. (Yes, I am enjoying the 90s TV show renaissance that’s happening among 20somethings!)

15

I’m from 1983, and I’m solidly a child of the 90’s although due to the prevalence of reruns, I think we all got exposed to 80’s TV. The biggest things from my child hood that I remember were the Rwandan Genocide and Gulf war part 1. I was too young to enjoy grunge before Kurt Cobain died, and didn’t get what the big deal was until later on. As far as 90’s children touchstones I look at TGIF, Saved By The Bell, the SNICK line up (remember Roundhouse?), hey dude, pete and pete, Full House, the SNES as the console of choice, street fighter 2. If I had to guess I’d put the ages where you were 6-12 as being the where you’re a child of that decade. As a teen the most significant events were the Columbine school shootings, the oklahoma city bombing, and the war in bosnia.

16

Born in '74, I am a child of the 80s in every way. Hip hop, the Challenger, AIDS, Reagan, Boy George, Madonna,We Didn’t Start The Fire!

By the time I discovered (and loved) grunge music and Cobain and all that, I already felt like all of that rightfully belonged to a new generation. Generation Y, as they called it at the time.

17

Generation Y started, at the earliest, in 1980 and, at the latest, in 1985. Grunge didn’t belong to us, but we kept it alive through the late 90s.

18

See, I’m thinking “alternative” music belongs to Gen Xers, not to Gen Y. Gen Y would be more like the Spice Girls, N’Sync, and Brittney Spears. They wouldn’t be sporting the “grunge” aesthetic because they would have been too young at the time to raid the local thrift store for flannel shirts and dirty jeans. “Smells like Teen Spirit” spoke to teenagers, not to their little brothers and sisters.

I know something weird happened to music during the 90s. Because my dad and us kids never fought over the radio station during the 80s. We could listen to Phil Collins and the Police; he could listen to Michael Jackson and Prince. There were genres sure, but there was no separate “pop” genre. Pop was just a catch-all for music that everyone liked. But then the 90s came and suddenly music was segregated by genres and levels of “appropriateness”. You had NWA talking about killing cops and NIN talking about fucking you like an animal. No way my father was getting into that mess. And he didn’t “get” all the angst of alternative music, which seemed just right for Gen Xers on the cusp of adulthood. So in summary, 80s music = fun for everyone. 90s music = youth-oriented and provocative. Better stick to the soft rock channel and listen to Mariah Carey and Celine Dionne if you startle too easily.

19

Monstro and Justin, you are right. I just was late getting to the grunge, I think. I actually think I didn’t get turned on to the whole scene until after Cobain was really big. That’s what throws me off. I’m pretty sure it was the 90s by the time I bought my Hole album.

20

Born in '78.

Those damn 80’s left some trace in my mind, as the two last CDs are bought are from Joy Division and (old) Devo.