I have read many theories on why youth culture changed forever after WWII - the growth of television, the first generation of teens to have money of their own, the ubiquity of the telephone. I had never considered that the simple increase of time spent with each other, because of the increase in the average number of years of education, might be a cause. People together naturally form ties, and bonds, and tribes, and cliques. Maybe that's all of it: human nature working as usual in a new situation.
There are flaws in the article, but I think Bauerlein basically gets it right.
My wife says one big thing missing from cohort society is a natural hierarchy. The best you can get is more influential peers, but that kind of influence doesn't correlate very well with wisdom or experience.
ReplyDeleteI think the other thing that happened was expanded college enrollment. My father met my mother when both were regional leadership for Luther League post WWII. They were in their early twenties but still active in a 'youth' organization. Now people in that age range are headed off to college, or starting jobs to pay student loans, and leadership continuity is lost.
ReplyDeleteI think the other thing that happened was expanded college enrollment. My father met my mother when both were regional leadership for Luther League post WWII. They were in their early twenties but still active in a 'youth' organization. Now people in that age range are headed off to college, or starting jobs to pay student loans, and leadership continuity is lost.
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