THESE KIDS

While watching a 1941 movie, I laughed out loud and told hubby, “My gosh that sounds like me.”

It actually sounded like most people over the age of ….. say 65.  What made me laugh?  Well…

The main character – remember this was a 1941 movie --was saying how the world would never survive this generation of children.  They had…   You can fill in the rest.

In my day – you know back when you walked to school, uphill, both ways – the ruination of the world was going to be caused by Elvis wiggling his hips.  Our parents could go on for hours about shirt tails not tucked in and collars turned up and the bee hive hairdo.  Of course we were all going to lose our hearing because the music was way too loud.  “What did you say?”

News flash – every generation thinks the one coming up is lost.  Cliff Notes:

• 1790 – Romances, novels and plays have poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of the youth
• 1816 – The waltz is an indecent, evil, foreign dance
• 1859 – Persons that engaged in chess were sedentary and not mental gladiators – they should be outside playing real games
• 1925 – Besides the devil, nothing is more dangerous to the immortal soul than film, and the beauty, exquisite clothing, lax habits and low moral standards, are becoming unconsciously appropriated by the plastic minds of American youth
• 1925 – The young folk are best described as grossly thoughtless, rude and utterly selfish
• 1993 – The difference in this generation in American history is they live so well and complain so bitterly about it
• 2001 – They have trouble making decisions….their attention span is as short as one zap of a TV dial

What made my mind wander in this direction?  A friend asked me to write a letter to her daughter for her 13th birthday and I thought, “I AM GLAD I AM NOT RAISING A 13 YEAR OLD!!”

My goodness, if generations past can survive novels and plays, the waltz, chess, movies, and Elvis, this generation will move on and complain about the next.  Fifteen years from now, this generation will not like the music of the day.  They will wonder what happened to the good movies they watched.  They will shake their heads as their teenagers rebel.  And mothers of teenagers will say, “Yes I am mean.  It happened the minute I gave birth.  Before that I was sweet.”

My take – Worry about the next generation has been going on …. like forever.  Instead of worrying about it, pray about it.  Instead of worrying about it, quit trying to make their world a copy of the world you remember and realize the next generation must change as the world changes.  (Disclaimer:  This does not mean you approve of every change.)  Instead of worrying about it, support and love the next generation. 

Instead of worrying about it, trust God.