You just made me feel really old. Thanks for that.
People actually knew the difference between news and opinion---between fact and spin. You could turn on the nightly news and trust that Walter Cronkite had done his homework and he was giving you the information in a straight forward manner. You didn't hear about sleaze in the nightly news--no Arnold's love child, Tiger's mistresses etc.
Students learned how to do real research, and the difference between fact and spin. You went to the library and let your fingers do the walking through the card catalogues. The cards were frayed from being thumbed through so many times. If the book you wanted wasn't in the library, you put your name on a waiting list and the librarian would call you when the book was returned.
If you grew up in a small town not near a large, like I did, you might only be exposed to homogenous people. There were no african american families within 50-75 miles. I didn't meet my first until after I graduated from college. There were no latinos. In my school, there was an asian girl, but she has been adopted by a white family. There was an Indian family, but they were very Americanized. A family from the middle east moved into the neighborhood. They weren't actually outcasts, but they weren't included. There was a show called Good Times, it was one, if not the first tv show centered around a black family, but they were poor and lived in the ghetto, perpetuating a stereotype. TV was very white. The Jeffersons was the next tv show, and the first that showed a successful black family as it's main characters , followed by the Cosby show. There were some black characters before the mid 70s, but not many.
I remember clearly the start of the AIDS epidemic--it was first thought to be a disease that only effected Haitians and gay men. Rock Hudson's death got people caring about AIDS, and it made people talk more openly about the disease. When Ryan White's story was made public, minds started to change and realize you could get AIDS from ways other than gay sex and being Haitian--blood transfusions and then we learned heterosexual sex could also spread the disease. Then a woman perpetrated a terrible story that she got AIDS from her dentist. She even testified before congress, claiming to be a virgin (and she never had a blood transfusion.) After her death it was discovered she lied and had gotten the disease from heterosexual sex.
Society didn't make celebrities out of idiots like that Snooky disaster.
On the negative side. There was 1 book about sexual abuse. One. I didn't even realize what was happening was sexual abuse, because I didn't have access to information. There was no where to go for help (not that I knew I needed it)--no good touch/bad touch. Rape victims were still often blamed for being attacked and date rape was unrecognized.
I knew NO ONE who was out of the closet. It wasn't safe, particularly in a small town. I never even knew girls could be gay until I was in Jr. High, I thought it was just for guys. I've heard that others from my school seemed to find each other easier than I did--but rarely anyone picks me up on their gaydar anyway.
There were only a handful of tv channels, ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS. I remember when cable was invented and HBO. Only rich people had cable.
The worst thing about the information age is what it's done to children, in my opinion. There was no such thing as video games, until I was in high school. Children played with each other. They ran outside, played kickball, freeze tag. Every minute of their day wasn't scheduled with activities. We learned to be creative. We learned to solve conflicts through talking them out, or getting mad and apologizing the next day. Children didn't have games that beeped and made noises and played themselves. Children actually played with their toys and developed their small and gross motor skills through natural play, not baby einstein.
We ate twinkies, white bread with butter, and big juicy steaks. Nobody worried about cholesterol, fat grams, or artery clogging foods. Being fat was our biggest food concern. Exercise? Nobody cared much, although when this new form of exercised called Aerobics came out, people were very excited.
Woman had real boobs. If they wanted bigger ones, they stuffed their bras with tissue.
Mothers looked like mothers, and not big sisters. You were embarrassed if your mother wore her housecoat to walk you to the bus stop, not because you could see her thong above her low cut jeans. Plastic surgery was reserved for the very rich.
You could smoke practically everywhere--the mall, school bathrooms (well you weren't allowed, but no one got in trouble for it). I wouldn't be surprised if some doctors' offices allowed smoking in their waiting rooms.
I think children were better off before the digital age--in terms of socialization, physical, emotional, and social development, and learning. There was far less ADHD, though each class had a handful of what was called Hyperactive children (mostly boys.) I firmly believe the increase is less about better diagnosis and more about better brain development and not frying the brain with the wrong type of activities that impede concentration.
Ways in which children are better off is that they have more resources if they have problems and they are more aware that they deserve to be treated with respect.
