ERIC ED390161: How Students Have Changed: A Call to Action for Our Children's Future.

49 Pages·1995·1 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
EA 027 268
ED 390 161
Stratton, Julia
AUTHOR
How Students Have Changed: A Call to Action for Our
TITLE
Childrcr's Future.
American Association of School Administrators,
INSTITUTION
Arlington, Va.
ISBN-0-87652-220-7
REPORT NO
PUB DATE
95
NOTE
49p.
American Association of School Aaministrators, 1801
AVAILABLE FROM
North Moore Street, Arlington, VA 22209 (Stock No.
21-000527; $7).
General (140)
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Books (010)
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Demography; Elementary Secondary Education; Family
DESCRIPTORS
School Relationship; *Social Change; *Student
Attitudes; *Student Characteristics; Technological
Advancement; *Trend Analysis; Violence
ABSTRACT
In a survey of the 1994 finalists in the National
Superintendent of the Year program, superintendents from all 50
states identified 10 major ways in which students had changed since
the 1960s. Dysfunctional families, the influence of high technology,
and threats of crime and violence headed the list. This booklet
describes change among American students and within American society.
It also presents the superintendents' recommendations for dealing
with the challenges facing today's schools and communities. The
introduction provides a snapshot of contemporary culture and a brief
overview of the effects of past decades on American society. Part 1
lists the major changes that superintendents found characteristic of
today's students. Part 2 examines the changes in detail, and part 3
includes 1-7..commendations from educators for addressing the changes.
Recommendations include: (1) teach kids to be socially competent;
(2)
(3) help parents and
create a learning environment in the home;
children become media literate;
(4) help business and the media
realize the consequences of selling products that glamorize violence
and diminish human dignity;
(5) encourage taxpayers to support
education and the business community to supplement that support;
(6)
allow parents time off from work to spend time with their children,
visit their children's school, or volunteer in the community;
(7)
encourage community agencies to coordinate their efforts;
(8)
effectively deal with problems caused by substance abuse, violence,
(9) facilitate the cooperation of schools,
and disrespect for others;
parents, business, government, and community; and (10) involve
parents in a substantive way. Six figures are included. (LMI)
*
*
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3
How
Students
Have
Changed
A Call To Action For
Our Children's Future
By Julia Stratton
Vairiati
Preface
For the first time in history, a generation of young people is
expected to fare worse economically than their parents. We
are afraid for them
afraid they'll never live the American
dream. At the same time, we don't always understand them, and
that makes it difficult to help them achieve that dream.
Who are the students of today? What motivates them, wor-
ries them, distracts them, angers them, thrills them?
Today's students seem different because they are different.
Their world is far removed from what ours was in decades past,
and has affected them in both positive and negative ways.
'lb
understand today's students, we need to understand that their
behavior, their attitudes and feelings, their activities and lifestyles
stem from their unique values and culture.
change among our nation's
This is a booklet about change
students and change within society itself.
It was written not only
for educators, but also for parents, business, community, and
government leaders.
As part of the 1994 National Superintendent of the Year
Program, cosponsored by the American Association of School
Administrators and the Service Master Company, finalists from all
SO states received questionnaires asking them to identify 10
major ways students had changed since the 1960s. They also
shared their views and insights on how best to deal with the
challenges racing today's students, educators, and communities
because of those changes. Their responses, combined with the
views of the teachers and others who observe our nation's chil-
dren and youth, formed the backdrop for this book.
The Introduction provides a snapshot of contemporary culture
and a brief overview of how past decades shaped America today.
Part I lists the 10 major changes our school leaders found charac-
teristic of today's students. Part II, which is divided into five sec-
tions, examines these changes in depth, and Part III includes rec-
ommendations from top educators lor addressing these changes.
(( onlimmi on flie In'Vl pito...)
5
We encourage educators, parents, and communities to use this
one-of-a-kind publication to build an even better understanding
of our nation's children and youth and to spur discussions about
how we can help them live even fuller, more productive lives
tomorrow.
Paul D. Houston
Executive Director
American ssociation of School Administrators
_.sofft
Introduction:
Putting Today
In Context
'I don't find all this 'looking back' to the past surpris-
you're
It's just part of a well-regulated society
ing.
always trying to define where you're going by where
In a future-oriented society like ours,
you've been.
it's a means of projecting the old days onta the new,
and create a con-
so we can somehow fuse the two
trolled and familiar universe."
C. Duncan Rice, dean, Faculty Arts & Science, New York University
Doubleday, 1991, p. 242
The Popcorn Report,
Faith Popcorn,
Since the dawn of man, adults have decried the young, for the
change in values. atti-
young, after all, represent change
While many ot us
tudes, beliefs, interests, and lifestyles.
might yearn for yesterday, those days are long gone.
IO fully comprehend the depth and scope of the changes our
leading educators observed among toda 's students, we must
understand the sociocultural conk, \ t ind trends that gave birth
the
to these changes. I hence, we begin our cultural journey with
.50s, the era in which the baby boomers were reared.
The '50s: Green Lawns, the McCarthy Hearings,
Miss Clairol, and Wonderbread
During the 1950s patriotism was high and family, community, and wor-
ship held special meaning for Americans. The vast majority of children
grew up with.both of their natural parents. Gender roles were largely
unchallenged and most mothers stayed at home to care for their fami-
Children participated in activities that reinforced the values of
lies.
home, school, and church, such as the Boy and Girl Scouts. But even
then, the seeds of change were being sown...
TV hypnosis.
The TV generation tuned in. Families abandoned the
dining room table for the TV tray. Edward R. Nfurrow warned ominously,
''If television and radio are to be used for the entertainment of all of the
people all of the time, we have come perilously close to discovering the
real opiat,-2 of the people."
On radio, on "American Bandstand," and on "The Ed Sullivan Show,"
rock 'n' roll rocked American culture itself. Girls in bobby socks and sad-
dle shoes swooned
to Fabian, Bobby Vinton, the Everly Brothers, and
Elvis Presley. The new music reflected a new
"If we lose our sense
breed of teenagers that would later become rebels
of history
our
with a cause.
reference point
The rumblings of change. While in retrospect
we'll lose what we
the 1950s seemed an era of remarkable stability,
want to preserve. In
prosperity, homogeneity, values cohesion, and
short, we'll acclimate
hope, this decade also was a period of transition
to what reality is now.
in values, in lifestyles, and in the marketplace.
We've lost our sense
l.andmark events such as the 1954 Brown vs.
of values."
Board of Education Supreme Court decision that
ended legalized segregation, the Sputnik space
Barbara Johnson,
explwation, and the McCarthy hearings, spurred
school counselor
and former teacher
a feeling of restlessness and individualism that
for 20 years,
sent shock waves throughout American life and
Bertha Reid Elementary,
Vouth.
Thornton, Colorado
The '60s: The Times They Are A-Changin'
Moral relativism and contradiction were the zeitgeist of the 'n0s. Despite
the fact that less than 20 percent of Americans actually demonstrated
or
rioted, this decade was much more chaotic than its predecessor.
Family
and community, work and team ethics, respect for authority, and
respectability appeared to give way to self-cxpression manift.sted in
Beatlentania, Woodstock, mantras and astrology, faded and torn blue
jeans, long hair, free love. min-violence, violence, and drugs. nd,
we
watched it all
together
on television
as the media magnified the
reality.
6
black mili-
The '60s were the years of experimentation and protest:
tarism, Vietnam protesters, the glorification of single life, and sexual
freedom. In contrast to their parents who were seen and not heard, the
youthful voices of challenge were broadcast throughout the land.
Something Happened in the '70s
In the wake of the Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations in the
'60s, America's innocence continued to fade. The energy crisis and infla-
tion; the spiralling divorce rate; the Equal Rights Amendment and femi-
nism; and Watergate intensified the sociocultural values tug-of-war
between young and old characteristic of the '60s.
and the first war America had
The first living room war, Vietnam
epitomized America's outlook. Not surprisingly, psychother-
ever lost
apy and self-help books flooded the shelves. As Morris Massey wrote in
The People Puzzle (1979), "The proliferating flock of teachers, doctors,
psychologists, counselors, social workers, and juvenile court officers .
. .
assumed the family's main function: raising children."
The '80s: Dynasty, Food Processors, and Yuppies
The early 1980s ushered in the era of the yuppie and getting rich quick
during a period of relative affluence, which gave many young people a
But these feel-good years were short-
false sense of financial security.
lived. Few were prepared for the devastating recession of the late '80s.
The savings and loan crisis foreshadowed many scandals to come.
In
fact, the good life, anchored in hope, faded into uncertainty, mistrust,
and cynicism.
The Numbing '90s
As "Generation X" grows up witnessing the videotaped Rodney King
beating and subsequent 1.os Angeles riots, Clarence Thomas-Anita llill
hearings, abortion clinic killings, the 0.1. case, and the bombing of the
Al.fred R Murrah Building in Oklahoma City; some wouki argue young
people have lost not only their boundaries of right and wrong, but also
their hope and faith in a better tomorrow.
and globally aware as
At the same time, students are ecologicall
never before. The popular music-video channel, NI ry, urges teenagers to
vote and to end racism and prejudice (though ironically, many of its
videos depict the negatise pra('tices it protests). Many young people seek
meaning in their lives through volunteering, church causes, or pccr
counseling. for most, idealism survives despite the odds.
In this context, then, we turn to our list of the top 10 changes school
leaders believe characterize our young people on the eve of a new century.
7
On The Charts!
The Top 10 Changes
Among Our Students
Since the 1960s
The 1994 Superintendent of the Year state finalists were sur-
veyed about the top 10 changes they observed among
young people today. Their most common responses (fol-
lowed by the number of indjviduals who gave this response) are
these:
Fite number of (lysfunctional families has grown. (35)
1.
High technology has influenced school. work, and
2.
home life. (21)
Children are threatened by crime, violence, ignorance,
3.
and poverty. 119)
4. Communities are changing, becoming more diverse. (191
5. Mass media grips our children (17), giving them more
knowledge (14) at an earlier age. (11)
Students question authority and shun traditional values,
6.
responsibilities. (161
A hurry-up society often lacks a sense of community. ( :2)
7.
8. Changing workplaces create demands tor higher levels
of literacy. (12)
knowledge alunit learning s(yles demands new kinds
9.
ot education. (10)
10. Peers exert a powerful influence on values. (101