Since I'm responsible for getting OT in an Online Cafe thread about Watergate, let me try to continue my concern that teens and college students seem underrepresented in peace rallies and opposition to the Iraq war. Of course, many point out that there is no draft now as there was during the Vietnam era. But I think there may be more involved.

Graham makes a good point. "College should be the time of dreams and anything, not conservative" A time to explore idealistic values, to experiment with alternative lifestyles. As a college professor, I'm sensing that the college experience has become quite a bit less sublime than it was when I was in college.

I have an 18 year old son who will head off to college in two months. Altho
he hates Bushco and keeps current with the news and politics in general, he has no sense of his right to exercise free speech. I have spent hours trying to figure why.... and I can only surmise that these kids have grown up in an era where school discipline is either strict or non-existent (I think my "gifted" son has trouble distinguishing btw speaking out and acting out- the kids are not encouraged to think at school now, they are encouraged to regurgitate). These kids were born during the Reagan era, grew up during the Clinton era (but have few real memories of either),
and have been most heavily influenced by the Bushco regime. Vietnam, Korea, WWII are all ancient history to them. Nor are they routinely taught civics at school (at least where I live).
They seem to have no point of reference and no sense of empowerment. They have come to age during a fear-mongering administration where they cannot even see the POTUS without signing a loyalty oath to the GOP. They know no different- this is their norm... no matter what we tell them.

Kids also grow up with much less personal freedom now. Their activities are scheduled.
It is not safe for them to wander. They communicate by IMing and emailing, rather than through
face-to-face encounters. They are only a cell phone away from Mom & Dad at any given time.

I find it all very disturbing... and yet, when my son was young, I did not feel that I could give him the freedom to disappear for hours at a time in the woods (what woods?!) to play, etc. And now that he is a teen, I feel I still want to know what he is up to and where he is.

So, I fear a combination of society and parents (like me) have raised a generation of strange
young people who are not as apt to speak their minds as those of us who were inspired by Kennedy and outraged by Nixon... and, yes, threatened by the draft.

blithering with jet lag here...

When I was in high school and college, we were asked to do a lot of "reading and regurgitating." We might actually do better now at least in the attempt to instill critical thinking.

Information technology might actually be a factor. Maybe students are being overwhelmed with more information than can be absorbed and processed. The winnowing and sifting needed for critical thinking is thwarted by a deluge of messages designed to have maximum marketing impact.

Even though the lecture/discussion format in the classroom often turns out to be BORING, it provides enough space for reflection. Even though the high tech environment of the internet, cell phones, Ipods, and cable news seems much more enriched than what we grew up with, it might actually produce a disconnect with parts of reality than keep us centered----nature and human relationships.

NO DRAFT yet...that is why I think they aren't protesting too much.

My son had only one class in high school where discussion was encouraged - he loved it ! I am hoping that he will find more classes like that in college, but, alas, he has chosen to attend a huge university (albeit in the honors college program), rather than a smaller liberal arts school where the opportunity to discuss might be more likely.

I think you are right on with your observation about a disconnect. :yes:

I think you've accurately analyzed how technology has actually interferred with young people's thinking skills and interpersonal relationships. I believe it was a Psychology Today magazine that had an article talking about how cellphones are the artificial umbilical cords tying youngsters to their parents and friends in an unhealthy manner. This article asserted that American youngsters are growing up to be emotional wimps because they seldom have to make decisions or handle dilemmas without the aid of the cell phone call to parents and that they seldom have to plan ahead and make arrangements with peers because they can keep in touch with them instantly by cell phone and/or instant messaging. Instant gratification without the benefit of, as you have said, the centering aspects of nature and human relationships. We did not give our 13 year old son a cell phone when he went to a 3 day overnight soccer camp. He survived very well.

Good example. Another example is the use of the internet to find sources for written assignment. Marketing web pages seem to be the first items to pop up on web searches. Instead of sorting through a long list of search results, students tend to use sources that are slick and easy to read------web pages that are designed to sell something.

When I was in college, the process of doing research involved a quiet place called a library. It took time to retrieve information and there were professional standards of accuracy and scholarship that tended to winnow out the hype.

I do think internet searches and data bases are really handy, but maybe too handy to prepare young minds for the rigors of critical thinking.

Soooooo true ! I loved the library but my kid will do as much as he can get away with from the internet. Even gets his "news" from the net- gawd forbid he touch a newspaper. I bought him a ton of reference books.... he uses dictionary.com, etc. Fortunately, he was in an IB Program and has had to use "turnitin" for all his papers, so he has never been able to get away with plagiarism or anything close to it (not that he would do it deliberately).
And I have taught him how to select "good" sources from the net... BUT, oh, what these kids are missing from not spending time in a library !

Interesting to me, my son just returned from an 18 day student trip to eastern and western Europe - no cell phone, no computer. And he claims he missed neither ! Now, that was good news He also complained that there was not enough history provided by the otherwise excellent tour guide (for instance, nothing about the devastating bombing of Dresden in WWII).

When all of the mass media is controlled by the Bushies, and the movies are pushing war as being heroic what else is to be expected. When all they hear in school, church, and home is how great it is to be on a HOLY CRUSADE, that is what they have been brainwashed to believe. When the music is about 4 letter words and not about peace and thinking, that is all they are aware of. There are no Peter Paul and Mary's out there. Or, the Kingston trio, etc. Even if there were, the younger generation is only interested in self gratifacation and mine, mine, mine, me, me, me, me. They do not respect their parents, let alone themselves or anyone else.

Just wait until the draft starts up... then the kids will suddenly wake up to a new reality: Bush and his buddies can kill YOU.

You are so right. He not only can, but will!!!

The draft is what mobilized the young people during the Viet Nam war, IMO. Yep, when your own life is on the line, one starts seriously questioning the reasons for the war that might take your own life.