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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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From: LindyBill8/29/2006 6:08:18 AM
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You wanna feel old?
Betsy's Page

Beloit College has released his annual Mindset List of what this year's college freshmen don't know. Here are some examples of what these young'uns have lived through and have no idea about.

1. The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
2. They have known only two presidents.
6. There has always been only one Germany.
7. They have never heard anyone actually “ring it up” on a cash register.
9. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents’.

11. A coffee has always taken longer to make than a milkshake.
19. “Google” has always been a verb.
22. Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America.
24. Madden has always been a game, not a Super Bowl-winning coach.
27. There has never been a “skyhook” in the NBA.

30. Non-denominational mega-churches have always been the fastest growing. religious organizations in the U.S.
33. They have no idea why we needed to ask “...can we all get along?”
37. Brides have always worn white for a first, second, or third wedding.
38. Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.
40. Affluent troubled teens in Southern California have always been the subjects of television series.

41. They have always been able to watch wars and revolutions live on television.
47. Small white holiday lights have always been in style.
48. Most of them have never had the chance to eat bad airline food.
49. They have always been searching for “Waldo”.
51. Michael Moore has always been showing up uninvited.

53. They have always preferred going out in groups as opposed to dating.
54. There have always been live organ donors.
55. They have always had access to their own credit cards.
58. Bad behavior has always been getting captured on amateur videos.
59. Disneyland has always been in Europe and Asia.

60. They never saw Bernard Shaw on CNN.
61. Beach volleyball has always been a recognized sport.
62. Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti have always been luxury cars of choice.
65. Diane Sawyer has always been live in Prime Time.
69. Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss has always been the perfect graduation gift.
74. Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober.

I teach 10th graders in my AP Government and Politics class and I'm really realizing how these kids don't know what my first group five years knew. For example, I realize that they have no memory of the 1996 election and all they know are the SNL skits. When I mention Bob Dole, all they know is that he talked about himself in the third person.

They know all about Monica Lewinsky, but aren't that aware of who Ken Starr was. They were probably in 2nd grade when that was the big news. They don't know much about the 2000 election because they were in 4th grade at the time. They don't know who Newt Gingrich is and only knew about the 1994 elections because it came up in class. Reagan is a figure from the history books - he was out of office when they were born.

Beloit College really does all of us teachers a favor by reminding us that the kids each year might be the same age as those we had last year, but that their frames of reference really are different than when some of us started teaching. It's enough to make one feel quite old.
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