Goff, Jacob: Beloit

      We, as freshmen in college, have always heard the phrase "back in the day." I know that, personally, that is one of the most annoying things an older person could say to me. That is, until I stopped and thought about the radical changes that have taken place in the past sixty years. Many times, older professors compare us young students to how it was when they were our age. They went through high school looking through World Book instead of WebMd. They did math mentally or on paper instead of doing everything on a super calculator. But amongst all of the differences, there are many similarities.
     
Television has put quite a bit of distance between my generation and my professors. For example, if I were to ask one of my professors what he or she thinks about the current Kardashian situation, I would probably get a blank stare. When they were growing up, no one cared about the latest popular couples divorce or what celebrity was seen dating another. But in this day and age, this information is abundant and, at some times, seems like it is forced down our throats every time we turn on the television. In every store there are pop culture magazines by the checkout or in book sections. Of the professors I have discussed this with, most just do not see the point in getting caught up in the drama. Pop culture has always caused quite a divide between generations. But modern television and video streaming can also aid in narrowing that divide. I can watch almost any show that has been aired in the past forty years without much of a problem. This gives my generation a view into past culture and entertainment. People like Michael Jordan are still immortalized in our minds because we have seen documentaries or game footage from his heyday. And though these great pastimes will never change, some things cannot stop changing.
     
The times that we live in now are much different from forty years ago. Music was different, and so were the morals of this nation. When many of my older professors were young, rock and roll was considered evil by some. Topics like homosexuality were just not mentioned. Divorce rates were much lower because the parents felt a greater commitment to marriage. It seems like the morals instilled by parents were much higher in many. But only one or two decades later morals would drop off tremendously. The music scene was also going through big changes. Rock and roll was really growing and the sound was changing. Rock was the most popular genre. Concerts began using fire pillars and many different lights and other effects to make the visual aspect just as good as the music. But in modern times, pop music is king. Rap has also come onto the scene, replacing the disco of the earlier years. Profanity is much more common in modern music than it was thirty or forty years ago. The same thing happened to television. Earlier shows showed wholesome families and depicted the American dream. The shows were clean enough for the whole family. But now, reality tv has taken over. Many shows have crude language and other inappropriate content. But some stations, such as TV Land, have immortalized these early shows.
     
The differences between generations are many. But common ground can always be found. The things of the past should be remembered and cherished, but things will change and time will move on. The generational differences have been present since humans have been alive, and they will inevitably continue as long as we roam the earth.