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Blackboard jungles? When you browse the news, you'll often encounter stories portraying the nation's schoolchildren as violent, sexually promiscuous and hopelessly depraved. Well, usually the picture painted isn't completely sordid, but the media just cannot seem to get over finding bad things to say about schoolkids. It's reminiscent of the 1950s movie Blackboard Jungle - which attempted to portray the adolescents of the time as out of control, when they were easily the most obedient and conformist generation of the century! Here's a few stories about "upswings in violence" and the need to call in LEOs. Kids Getting Violent At School - CBS News Charging Student, 8, Called Overly Harsh - The Times Leader Dirty Dozen Schools - New York Post Unruly Students Facing Arrest, Not Detention - The New York Times Of course, with zero tolerance rules which take all decisionmaking power away from teachers, and with parents always willing to sue, who can blame administrators for leaving the worst disciplinary problems for the police to handle? Look what happened to one fellow who thought he was wise enough to handle discipline on his own: Teacher Allegedly Punches Student At Brooklyn School - NBC 4 He should have called the cops! A story about wild middle school sex which turns out be a lie..err...I mean an "urban legend," and a brutal drug raid which nets nothing but community ill will only underscore the impression that it's the adults who are out of control, not the kids. Threat Level Pink - washingtonpost.com Goose Creek Parents Want Answers After Drug Raid at High School - WIStv.com The trend today is toward less pathology at the individual level, not more. What we're really seeing in the relentless "troubled schools" reporting is the unflagging pessimism of the adult generations. And the real trend to watch for is that of evermore rigid rules of conduct, with a growing acceptance of law enforcement presence in schools. Posted by Steve Barrera at 5:23 PM |
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| Lost | 104+ |
| G.I. | 80-104 |
| Silent | 62-80 |
| Boomer | 44-62 |
| Gen-X | 23-44 |
| Millennial | ?-23 |
| Homeland | ? |
| High | 1946-1964 |
| Awakening | 1964-1984 |
| Unraveling | 1984-? |
| Crisis | ?- |
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Where noted, background information on generations theory is copyright 1996 Broadway Books. All other content on this web site is copyright 2002-2005 Generation Watch and Steve Barrera. All rights reserved. |