I was reminded of this list by an
email I received from tomorrow’s professor and I thought it would be of
interest to others of my generation. We tend to see ourselves as a special
group, but each generation has its own unique worldview. It is in our best
interest to get to know what the younger generation is facing and its how its
views are being shaped by events. They are living a different reality than we
lived. We need to be aware of their reality so we can communicate and
understand their views.
Each August since 1998, Beloit College has
released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural
touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.
Prepared by Beloit’s former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief and Keefer
Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride, the list was originally created as a
reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references. It quickly became an
internationally monitored catalog of the changing worldview of each new college
generation. Mindset List websites at themindsetlist.com and beloit.edu, as well
as the Mediasite webcast and their Facebook page receive more than a million
visits annually.
Some views
on this generation by Tom McBride before we see the list.
By now we are familiar with adjectives that go before “generations,”
such as “Greatest” and “Silent.” Or sometimes we just hear “the Boomers.” For
some reason that bunch isn’t called “the Booming Generation.” Maybe that’s a
good thing, too.
The
current generation, I predict and I hope, will be called The Sharing Generation. They may very well become the most
secular generation–and yet also the generation best organized for service–in
American history.
Why?
Well, consider for a moment how much—and what–they share:
*They
share information:
it is a generation that has grown up with the electronic cut and paste and
forward.
*They
share themselves:
it’s a generation that is constantly “chatting,” which doesn’t mean that they
are necessarily talking, even on the phone, much less face to face. They text
all day; they text all night. They wake up and text before their feet hit the
floor.
They
share transportation:
they tend to flock to big cities for employment, where it’s more expensive to
keep a car, but in fact they seem less interested in owning their own autos
than previous generations have been, and they take public transport.
They
share our national identity;
it’s a generation that is not sold on the idea that there is a single national
identity. They’ve grown up in a multi-ethnic society. One survey suggested that
in the future they wouldn’t follow a political party that could only attract
whites, even if they are themselves white.
They
share knowledge;
it’s a generation that has not grown up with the lecturer (in educational
terms, “the sage on the stage”) but with the facilitator (“guide on the side”).
They’ve absorbed educational methods that involve small-group collaborative
learning rather than more passive listen-and-take-notes.
Finally,
they share spiritual values;
it’s a generation that is interested in spiritual ideas—such as meditation and
service—but it’s not a sectarian generation. It has a more ecumenical approach.
It’s spiritual but not religious in the sectarian sense
The Mindset List for the Class of 2017
For this generation of entering
college students, born in 1995, Dean Martin, Mickey Mantle, and Jerry Garcia
have always been dead.
- Eminem
and LL Cool J could show up at parents’ weekend.
- They
are the sharing generation, having shown tendencies to share everything,
including possessions, no matter how personal.
- GM
means food that is Genetically Modified.
- As
they started to crawl, so did the news across the bottom of the television
screen.
- Dude”
has never had a negative tone.
- As
their parents held them as infants, they may have wondered whether it was
the baby or Windows 95 that had them more excited.
- As
kids they may well have seen Chicken Run but probably never got
chicken pox.
- Having
a chat has seldom involved talking.
- Gaga
has never been baby talk.
- They
could always get rid of their outdated toys on eBay.
- They
have known only two presidents.
- Their
TV screens keep getting smaller as their parents’ screens grow ever
larger.
- PayPal
has replaced a pen pal as a best friend on line.
- Rites
of passage have more to do with having their own cell phone and Skype
accounts than with getting a driver’s license and car.
- The
U.S. has always been trying to figure out which side to back in Middle
East conflicts.
- A
tablet is no longer something you take in the morning.
- Threatening
to shut down the government during Federal budget negotiations has always
been an anticipated tactic.
- Growing
up with the family dog, one of them has worn an electronic collar, while
the other has toted an electronic lifeline.
- Plasma
has never been just a bodily fluid.
- The
Pentagon and Congress have always been shocked, absolutely shocked, by
reports of sexual harassment and assault in the military.
- Spray
paint has never been legally sold in Chicago.
- Captain
Janeway has always taken the USS Voyager where no woman or man has ever
gone before.
- While
they've grown up with a World Trade Organization, they have never known an
Interstate Commerce Commission.
- Courts
have always been ordering computer network wiretaps.
- Planes
have never landed at Stapleton Airport in Denver.
- Jurassic
Park has always had rides and snack bars, not free-range triceratops and
velociraptors.
- Thanks
to Megan's Law and Amber Alerts, parents have always had community support
in keeping children safe.
- With
GPS, they have never needed directions to get someplace, just an address.
- Java
has never been just a cup of coffee.
- Americans
and Russians have always cooperated better in orbit than on earth.
- Olympic
fever has always erupted every two years.
- Their
parents have always bemoaned the passing of precocious little Calvin and
sarcastic stuffy Hobbes.
- In
their first 18 years, they have watched the rise and fall of Tiger Woods
and Alex Rodriguez.
- Yahoo
has always been looking over its shoulder for the rise of "Yet
Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.”
- Congress
has always been burdened by the requirement that they comply with the
anti-discrimination and safety laws they passed for everybody else to
follow.
- The
U.S. has always imposed economic sanctions against Iran.
- The
Celestine Prophecy has always been bringing forth a new age of spiritual
insights.
- Smokers
in California have always been searching for their special areas, which
have been harder to find each year.
- They
aren’t surprised to learn that the position of Top Spook at the CIA is an
equal opportunity post.
- They
have never attended a concert in a smoke-filled arena.
- As
they slept safely in their cribs, the Oklahoma City bomber and the
Unabomber were doing their deadly work.
- There
has never been a national maximum speed on U.S. highways.
- Don
Shula has always been a fine steak house.
- Their
favorite feature films have always been largely, if not totally, computer
generated.
- They
have never really needed to go to their friend’s house so they could study
together.
- They
have never seen the Bruins at Boston Garden, the Trailblazers at Memorial
Coliseum, the Supersonics in Key Arena, or the Canucks at the Pacific
Coliseum.
- Dayton,
Ohio, has always been critical to international peace accords.
- Kevin
Bacon has always maintained six degrees of separation in the cinematic
universe.
- They
may have been introduced to video games with a new Sony PlayStation left
in their cribs by their moms.
- A
Wiki has always been a cooperative web application rather than a shuttle
bus in Hawaii.
- The
Canadian Football League Stallions have always sung Alouette in Montreal
after bidding adieu to Baltimore.
- They
have always been able to plug into USB ports
- Olestra
has always had consumers worried about side effects.
- Washington,
D.C., tour buses have never been able to drive in front of the White
House.
- Being
selected by Oprah’s Book Club has always read “success.”
- There
has never been a Barings Bank in England.
- Their
parents’ car CD player is soooooo ancient and embarrassing.
- New
York’s Times Square has always had a splash of the Magic Kingdom in it.
- Bill
Maher has always been politically incorrect.
- They
have always known that there are “five hundred, twenty five thousand, six
hundred minutes" in a year.
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