The younger Generation

[sheilasmiles]

My sister-in-law was speaking to one of the staff at my father’s 55 and over community (more like over 75) and asking her why they didn’t have a D-Day remembrance ceremony . Her answer was ‘What is DDay’ Oh that thing with the beache! Are memories that short?

Comments

[leethet]

This isn't memory. It's education. After all, D-Day was before my time and yours. But we learned about it in school.

What ARE they teaching kids in school these days? ;-)

Or maybe she just wasn't paying attention that day?

[glennagirl]

For one, they aren't teaching cursive. I've spoken to more than one college student who can't read or write, except for their own name.
As for history... One survey found that over 30% of college students didn't even know that free speech was guaranteed in the first amendment. I seriously doubt that many of the current college age generation have the first clue what we're even talking about if we mention constitutional amendments.

[sheilasmiles]

That’s scary, they don’t even know their rights are being threatened

[leethet]

I agree about cursive, but then I think writing - physical writing - is a pleasure in itself.

As for D-Day. I don't know ... to be fair, most kids in school with me didn't give a rat's ass about stuff that long ago and were tired of oldsters talking about it, but OUR era still had a ton of books and movies and TV about it. As a kid always interested in history, I remembered stuff, but most of my cohorts didn't.

Now add another billion years of time passage (roughly) and another billion tons of pablum and celebrity worship and reality TV and devices that separate you from everything but your favorite downloadable-band-du-jour ... perhaps it's no wonder the kids don't remember the three paragraphs they read about it in school ...

[nakeisha]

*Shakes head*

This is so sad.

I'd agree that sadly it's about education or rather a lack of it :-(

[sheilasmiles]

Right now I’m working for the Local History Project and deciphering old handwriting to input data in our PastPerfect program. It’s interesting work, but I need a knowledge of cursive to read these things. Spenserian script is beautiful but hard to read. I don’t see how anyone below 35 could do it!