The Baby Boomers
From Black And White To Color

Before the 1960's, most people watched television in black and white. Looking back at what
society was like 50 years ago, it seems like people looked at life in terms of black and white also.
Things were either right or they were wrong. There wasn't too much in between. Some of the
things we viewed as wrong were disrespectful children, smoking pot, and sex before marriage.
Some of the things society viewed as right were children not talking back to their parents or
teachers and conservative dress. If you want to look back and see exactly what society viewed as
right versus wrong, just watch some retro television and you'll get the picture.

After WWII a new kind of generation was born in the United States. Because of the after effects
of the War the United States experienced an economical boom, which resulted in high income
jobs, (relevant to the time in history) with unemployment rates being almost non-existent.
Education was also enhanced by the government with universities and colleges prompting people
to get a college degree. Education was cheap, and was readily available. In fact, many took
college courses to open up higher paying job opportunities and because of this lifestyle many
people became financially secure. This financial freedom allowed people have more children
and there was a significant increase in birth rates. People who were born during this period are
called baby boomers and were born between the years of 1946-1964.

To me it seems like things really changed during this generation. Dr Spock came along, and his
book became a child rearing bible for many people. Parents changed their approach to raising
their children. It started to become in vogue for parents to be less authoritarian and more liberal
in terms of discipline. The result; the baby boomers themselves took this to an extreme when
they began to have children of their own. They took this more liberal mentality and kicked it up a
huge notch. Baby boomer parents believed that their children had the right to decide everything.
This included when they got fed, what they wanted to eat, what they wanted to wear, and what
they wanted to say and do and it became the idea that at three years old children were asked to do
things rather than being told.

For baby boomer children things were no longer black and white. Nothing was totally wrong
anymore, and everything was a combination of colors. Parents couldn't establish rules in black
and white because it might hurt their child's self esteem and kids began to feel good about who
they were becoming for no apparent reason. The idea came into popularity that parents have to
"respect" their children. The concept of respect is wonderful, but it was taken to a ridiculous
extreme. Respect for children came to mean allowing them to say and do anything they wanted.
Baby boomer children no longer learned self control in words and actions. This actually resulted
in them not showing respect for anyone else but themselves. Basically, baby boomer children
became extremely selfish, self-indulgent, arrogant, and demanding. Everything was about
feeling good no matter what the cost. The end result, baby boomers have the highest debt and the
poorest health with largest waistlines. The way they deal with relationships is if you don't agree
with me I am not talking to you and that means if we are married or not with the divorce rate
being higher than what is reported. The research points to the fact that baby boomers get
divorced later in their marriage. Their parents stayed together at all cost while the boomers hung
on until their kids were grown.

We are now dealing with the children of baby boomers. They are being referred to as the
millennial generation. Only time will tell what their problems will be. One thing that seems for
sure, that the days of right and wrong and black and white are gone forever.

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