How Modern Teens Compared To Those Of The 1950's

The 1960’s were arguably the most influential years in American music’s history. The music helped connect people of all races, whom enjoyed visiting jazz-clubs in the early to mid-60s, to listen to the music and poetry performed by African-Americans. Much of the music from the 1960s also led to the creation and popularization of new genres and subgenres, such as rock-and-roll. These new music styles influenced the lifestyles of a large majority of Americans, particularly teenagers and young-adults, who mimicked the lifestyles of many stars of the time.

Gender roles was different for when it was in the 1960’s. They use to not let girls go to school or do any jobs as hard as men do. For example, go to war, rebuild houses, construction, etc. Transportation, back in the 1960’s the cars looked different, the way they were shaped, and the color of the car. Music, it has changed a lot from the 1960´s. Now music has rapping, slow music, hip hop, bad language, etc. All of these, gender roles, transportation, and music.

Rock and roll music emerged as a part of American teen culture during the notably conservative time period in the country’s history which shortly followed the traumatic events of World War II. Being that the genre’s target audience was white teenagers, many Americans- already overwhelmed and on-edge due to the anti-communist movement inspired by the Cold War- were apprehensive about the influence that this up-and-coming style of music might have on their country’s future. America’s youth openly accepted rock and roll’s racially integrated culture of performers and embraced the relatively lewd nature of many songs and performances associated with the genre, much to the dismay of their elders.

Life today is very fast-paced. Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere and will push you out of the way to get there, like it's some kind of race. In our personal lives, we have our cell phones, and maybe a home phone, scheduled play dates for our kids, microwaves, satellite TV, home security systems that don't involve dogs, solar landscape lighting, automatic underground sprinkler systems for our lawns, and compact fluorescent lights to replace the incandescent bulbs that waste energy. In the business world, you have meetings that you can attend by using a video phone, PowerPoint presentations to help you get your point across at the meetings you can't get out of, instant messaging to speak to clients and other businesses around the

Teen culture in the 1950’s took off with the introduction of “Rock ‘N Roll”. An estimated 13 million teens spent $7 billion in 1956.(5) Teens felt free to do whatever they wanted, but that was not totally true. There were many common rules for the teen society in the 1950’s. Some of the rules were: Obey authority, control your emotions, and don’t even think about sexual intercourse.(Silverman 6)

This reference shows how music lays a foundation of teenage values beyond school or parental teaching. A musical artist can influence a young mind by the chosen lyrics with greater effectiveness than formal education. Music can control or enhance moods. A good mood can get better or a bad mood can be worked through with the choice of music. A bad mood can also be enhanced by lyrics about suicide or violent behavior. Teens can also use music to gain information about the adult world, to withdraw from social contact, facilitate friendships and social settings, or to help them create a personal identity. (O'Toole, 1997)

The 1950’s was a time of great social change. The word, ‘teen-ager’ was recently coined and applied to people aged thirteen to nineteen. During this decade, people’s perception of youth and adolescents drastically changed as children became more rebellious. Previous to 1950. society consisted of two main stages of human development: children and adults. When the Baby Boom started in 1946, producing more babies, a new era of music, attitudes, practices, and dance began to appeal to kids that did not feel socially accepted by adults in society. This was the start of the teenage rebellion. With increased teenager presence came more disapproval because of rebellious behaviour. Teenagers were pitted against media, parents, and local authority. Teenagers started disobeying parents, getting expelled from school, and fighting back against authority. Indeed, the ‘50s were a time that saw upheavals towards the impact of the music, change of attitudes, new fashions, and new dances developed children into teenagers.

The music of the “swinging 60s”especially influenced the lives of many teenagers, with the rock ’n’ roll craze of the 50s still

“The rise of rock ‘n’ roll and the reception of it, in fact, can tell us a lot about the culture and values of the United States in the 1950s. According to historians James Gilbert, there was a struggle throughout the decade ‘over the uses of popular culture to determine who would speak to what audience, and for what purpose”. At the center of that struggle, rock ‘n’ roll unsettled a nation had been “living in an ‘age of anxiety’” since 1945” (p.15). Altschuler talks about how music and race interlock with one another. Rock had become a “highly visible and contested arena for struggles over racial identity and cultural and economic empowerment in the United States” (p.35). Other chapters within the book state the battles involving sexuality, generational conflicts, as well as other social issues. The author states ideas that are somewhat problematic. For example, he states that there is a myth that rock ‘n’ roll went into a “lull” following the payola hearings (the practice of record promoters paying DJs or radio programmers to play their labels ' songs) of 1959 and did not come about again until the arrival of the Beatles in 1964.

As the decades change so do the teens. Teenagers from the 1960’s won’t exactly have the same ways of thinking or ways of speaking. The way of life back then was completely different and that has an impact on teens today. Old ways are thrown out and newer ones are brought in, attitudes change. Advance technology changes the way we interact with others compared to the 1960’s. The health concerns may or may not be the same as the health concerns in the year 2014. With teens changing constantly, how will the next generation of teens be like?

The emergence of Rock and Roll was one of the most pivotal moments of our nation’s history. The impact that this genre of music made is still evident in our culture. However, before this genre was able to gain momentum, it faced many cultural conflicts. The book, All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America by Glenn C. Altschuler analyzes the impact that rock and roll music has made on American culture. It explores how the Rock and Roll culture was able to roughly integrate and later conflict with preceding cultural values. This is especially apparent in chapters regarding race and sexuality. Overall, Rock and Roll was extremely controversial amongst parents and educators. This new music genre was condemned by the previous generation as

The 1960’s was a decade that forever changed the culture and society of America. The

Throughout history, music have defined or depicted the culture and social events in America. Music has constantly played an important role in constituting American culture, where people have expressed themselves through music during flourishing and turbulent times. In the 1930’s, Swing music created a platform for audiences to vent their emotions in the midst of Great Depression and political unrest. Such strong relationship between music and culture can be seen throughout history, especially in the sixties.

In the chapter reading it states, “What really defined the youth culture, however, was music.” (769) Rock ‘n’ roll changed the youth of America by taking music out

Socially/Lifestyle - Americans began to envision a bright future ahead of them. They begin investing in their dreams. The national birthrate was at a decline, but peaked back in 1957. There began a growing of a middle-class lifestyle. By 1960, a third of the nationa’s population resided in suburbs. They were much larger and were capable of housing many children. This attracted most people to them. These also created a greater isolation for women from the workplace and men from at home. Because of the increase in the number of children, more women were needed at home. Music also began to rise in popularity, especially different styles. Rock in roll that was derived from rhythm and blues, made its appearance in one of the greatest early rock stars, Elvis Presley.