For Thursday, July 19, 2001 Drummer Column, Gibbs, 728 words
Decade's kids: (Part II) Crisis of congregation
Last week I began a personal analysis on the place of teenagers in America beginning in the '50s and taking us into the future. The analysis has been by decade so far, but I'd like to pan back for a moment to discuss an overriding critical element -- the Baby Boom.
For young readers, the Baby Boom was caused when thousands of soldiers returned from World War II with bundles of stored paychecks and an eagerness to be with women. They married and made lots and lots of babies.
Catering to Baby Boomers has ever since been a function of the American economy because this bulge in our society means lots of loot. As small children and teenagers, Boomers were pampered. Shops sprang up to provide them with Popsicles, pinball, and a place to play. Boomers meant prosperity to proprietors.
When Boomers became old enough to fight, they were sent off to war to be thinned out and saved from a potentially cataclysmic increase in unemployment. The smaller shipment of children to come along behind the Boomers hit their teens in the late '70s. They didn't get the same level of pampering. Instead, they got the aftermath of Viet Nam, the bitterness of disillusionment, the distrust between generations, the declining profitability they symbolized to Main Street America, and a generalized drop in popularity.
To the face-to-face merchants, the young customers of the '70s more and more began to spell trouble. Inflation had drained their allowances, resentment had increased their hostility, and a tinge of existential apathy had seeped in to tarnish their work ethic. In other words, they had less money and were hard on the furniture. Shops chose to follow the Boomers into adulthood by closing teen digs and opening bars, boutiques, and beauty parlors.
Teenagers have been facing a crisis of congregation ever since.
Stop, shop, and scram stores still stocked teenage treasures, but lounging was out of favor. Teenagers' long-term face-to-face business was unwanted. Store-front-door signs began appearing that limited teenage entry. Adults and constables didn't want teenagers bunching up idle on the sidewalks. They were chased off the Main Streets of America.
For a while, teens gathered in shopping malls -- the social Mecca of valley girls and guys. Ask Zappa. However, it wasn't long before malls that didn't harness their young visitors lost business because adults ran away. Security guards were hired to break up groups. "Keep it moving, kids."
Forgive any overstatements. Of course, few things are always true. Our kids are loved. They have school, community clubs, church groups, scout troops, rock concerts, beaches, wilderness trails, YM&WCAs, and many other places to gather, but at a declining rate, either because of availability and funding, or a lack of interest in such mustered activities by the teenagers themselves.
Smaller children have far more options. They are more willing to join parentally organized groups. Teens want freedom of choice and independence, which are not as well funded.
I'm reminded of the plight of the firefly. The increase in night luminance by street lights and headlights has made it harder for them to find each other. They are blinded by the light, which has affected their mating rituals and resulted in a serious decline in numbers.
It deserves reiteration that teens were not indifferent to these societal changes. They reacted to the increased neglect with increased anger and hostility. Songs of love turned to songs of hate. Many banded on the fringes away from watchful eyes. Teens found secret hangouts and rave zones to replace the downtown lounge. Gang membership increased. Many tagged public buildings with their silent self expressions, which were also known as graffiti, vandalism, and crime.
Most teenagers, of course, have always been good kids who dealt with social change like well-formed human beings and made the best of it. The others were in trouble. Unfortunately, humans tend to stereotype groups based on their loudest and most observable characters. This has caused whole generations to earn a bad rap.
We've come a long way since the '50s -- civil rights, women's rights, handicapped rights. We have broken down many barriers of exclusion. Yet, at the same time, teenagers have increasingly been regarded with unease and avoidance.
To be continued…