by Ian Pauley

Created on: March 19, 2008

I suspect that every generation since the dawn of civilisation that has made it to adulthood has stood there at some point with arms crossed, tutted and moaned about the youth of today. So are they a lost generation? No, no more than the one that came before it, yours possibly, or the one that will go after it.

Many, if not all, parents have moaned about the opportunities that they never had when they were that' age and how the youngsters are wasting their time. Well apart from the privileged few, there aren't that many of us that have the opportunity of wasting time when we become adults so that only leaves childhood and retirement to waste time in. At least when you're young you can run the risk of snowboarding without coping with that annoying hip joint or worrying whether the next fall will result in a trip to the fracture clinic.

If the youth of today are lost then it is in the world you once inhabited but then age and responsibility moved you on. Now when you pass by a group of youngsters you don't recognise that world any more, it feels alien to you, unkempt and uncivilised, and that is perfectly normal. The clothes may have changed as has what is important but the reasons behind it remain the same.

We all went through the phase of wanting to be part of the group that we most identified with and we used music and fashion dictate in which group we lived; even if we were dressing up in clothes that didn't suit us and listening to music we really didn't want to listen to. Certainly since the first quarter of the last century the wealth generated has meant that more choice has been made available to more people. During the 1920s the first trends appeared, driven on by the new media of film. During the 1930s the radical youth gravitated towards jazz and blues. Back then they were as radical as Bob Dylan was in the 60s and The Sex Pistols were in the 70s. During the 50s you were a rocker and went on the rampage, ripping up cinemas and as the 60s came around the Mods appeared and the first fights started between youth movements.

The 60s weren't any better. It may have been the decade of love and peace but it was the decade that brought recreational drugs to the fore and made it the global industry, and problem, that it is today. The kids growing up today will fondly look back on their teen and twenties with a fondness that will conveniently smooth over the more uncomfortable moments.

I suppose if there is a lesson to be learnt here it is that the youth of today, whenever today' is, will always rebel against the generation that went before, it is as natural as breathing. Unfortunately knowledge and wisdom are qualities that are only acquired from making mistakes driven by immaturity, arrogance and a wish to make an impact on the world.

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