Then and Now

Then: I remember as a kid in Flint, Michigan, a thing called slam-books. I was in the the fifth or sixth grade. We didn't have cell phones or computers. We had steno notebooks. The thing was that kids names were written in the book (each student that participated had one) then the book was passed around and people "Slammed" that person. Didn't take long for it to turn bad. You'd see girls crying, because of what a person said or boys would fight in school hallways to avenge their girl friend or themselves. It didn't last long. Teachers, parents and the students themselves saw that the books were not a good thing and were removed from the loop.

Kids back then could be down right mean-spirited. There were a couple of gangs, and some brought weapons to school like knives, sucker bars, and I saw one with a zip-gun (homemade pistol shot .22 cal) once. But these were few and far between. Police, parents and school officials dealt swiftly and severely when discovered. But even back then kids kept things to themselves. Though many moms were home then and there was supposedly the family table kids were a mystery if no one listened to them.

Now: Now take everything from "Then," multiply by  what? Gas back then was .28 cents a gallon, now almost $3.00 a gallon. We had two high schools now I think there are four or five. Whatever the multiplier, the actions are the same by the kids. They just have better technology. They have the cell phones, internet, computers, real guns and new liberal laws that make it difficult to act swiftly and severely. The laws are made because no one listens. It's not until we trip over a body or find that a child has killed themselves that we react.

But what is the same, both then and now, is that the majority of kids are and want to be good. They want to  to learn, and live  successful, happy lives. There is hope for our children's future and that hope comes from the fact that most are good and they are smart. They have the ability to see and correct or even prevent a wrong.

I now see that I'm my father in my thinking. The old ways were best. Each generation (you can read these same words in ancient Chinese texts) thinks the new generation is going to destroy the "perfect world" created by the past.

Our parents and now us, have done some marvelous things, but we've made some really stupid  decisions also. We have experience to share but we really need to share, not dictate, or tell our kids they are doomed to fail. What's the old adage, close your mouth so you can hear. Maybe that's why there are so  many ear-buds plugged into young ears. Maybe we, the older generation, haven't taken the time to listen or maybe we just talk too much. If our ideas are so great why aren't there multitudes gathering to hear us, to follow our lead? Why are we talking and no one is listening but us?