As early as 1950 television has influenced us in what expectations? Our parents before us had children for useful reasons, not always because they felt a huge emotional tie to have large families but rather for the purpose of running our farms and such.

As far back as man can think, before WW2 people had large families, due to economical reason and practical factors. Older children, such as the girls helped raise the younger members of the family, older boys awoke at the crack of dawn to help their Fathers with the farm work, or going to work in the coal mines, even the paper mills. Every person was born with a given task and most of society lived on the very back bone of these men and women, along with the children.

Most of the these children were not educated, they were born into a certain lifestyle and they lived out the roles assigned to them at a early age. There was very little emotional interaction in a family of this time, as there was very little physical exchange as in hugs and reassurance. It was a practical society and most of the time, children simply adapted at a early age without questioning the authority of the elders in their life, it was as it was. Most people of the time had children, because it was the thing to do, no one was ever given much of a choice. This generation before us, was the “Be Seen and Not Heard”

Then along came the dawn of a whole new era, the baby boomers, entertainment and of course television.

How much of a influence was television in our lives growing up? If you owned a TV by 1952, you were tuning into shows, like I Love Lucy, Honey Mooners, What’s My Line? By the early 1960s TV was the central point in every American living room, TV dinners were a breeze for Mom and dinner trays replaced the dining room table. Americans were watching TV in the evening, television had now replaced family time and our eyes were open to a whole new world. Our imagination became stimulated by tuning into the Wonderful World of Disney.

I now wonder, did our parents raise us to have such high expectations or can we factor in the emotions as seen on a TV weekly show like Leave it to Beaver or Donna Reed? The families on TV had comedy, a sense of humor, and Dad was involved in raising the kids, something not many families from the time can admit.

Did we watch these shows and see ourselves living with the perfect American family? How much of a education did we get by watching so much TV? I, for one can admit, I spent many hours as the youngest member of our family watching TV, looking forward to my weekly favorite variety shows and sitcoms. I could envision myself being there in the same setting I was viewing from a square box on the floor of my den.

I would watch Saturday morning cartoons, followed by watching my older sister in bobby socks get ready for American Bandstand, I knew all the moves, I could dance like anyone on TV. And that is just it, so much of what I watched every week on television was a huge part of my life. I did not need to learn as much from my parents, I had TV parents with all the answers, I had humor to keep me laughing and variety shows to teach me the latest fads.

Did we become an alarmist or even a tad bit paranoid by viewing shows based on events of the Mafia as seen on The Untouchables or any other cop shows? Baby Boomers had a whole new world before them in television and the American family was forever changed. Yes, TV was a real first for baby boomers. Baby boomers experienced a lot of first in fact,

\we were the first to have the birth control pill, first to allow abortions, first to be given a voice to speak out about society.

And what about the generation of kids coming up today, especially the ones from broken homes, single parent units, so many children being raised on welfare, what is expected of them? Children are outspoken today, but for what stance? A self serving dignity that suits themselves and not the family or friends around them.

Kids today are bold, have so many options before them, a world of technology at their very fingers, but still they will look at you with a blank stare on their face and answer with the attitude so accepted by them of “Whatever’!!! Kids today become bored too easy and find getting into trouble a alternative to entertainment.

They care less about what is the right thing to do and more about what is everyone wearing, what car they are driving and parents are eternally attempting to keep their kids up on the biggest, best and fastest of whatever is in the market of the day. Even the drugs of today are faster, more addictive and killing off a large portion of our youth. Youth of today are the true version of the lost generation.

With little direction given to them by parents or teachers, kids are split into so many groups looking for a place to belong, to fit in and to just feel normal. Never before have kids been so casual about taking the life of another, never so in touch to their own emotions. We have talked every issue to death with our kids and they simply are sick of hearing what we have to say or even what we think we have to teach them.

We became so over zealous with our lives, television did replace the baby sitter and family time. We allowed the values and morals we once thrived on to parish by the wayside. The government stepped in, to tell us what they feel parents can and can not do where their families are concerned.

We wanted our children to have so much more then we have, and along the way, we forgot what we had all along. We had parents we never bothered to talk to, to ask what life was like through their eyes, what their lost dreams were! Baby boomers were so enthralled with all their first, they forgot about the generation that was never seen and seldom heard. My god, if we had opened our ears, taking the time to listen, just imagine the lessons and stories we might have learned.

Yes, baby boomers have always been high on being into touch with our inner most feelings and in the meantime we lost touch with the children we wanted to prepare for a better tomorrow. We thought we were turned on, tuned out and in tune to change the world.

Yeah it is true, baby boomers were born into an era somewhere between doing as we were told, giving a damn and feeding our own children on the “crap” notion of “Be Free, Be Wild, Be Whoever you Want” while at the same time, we never bothered to instill social interactions, grace, manners, respect for others or even moral fiber.

We as a generation, the baby boomers, failed the idealistic waves we rode in on and outgoing generation of adults to come.

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