40
Fun Facts about the Class of 2017
In a
few short weeks, kids all over the country will be graduating high school. Here’s how their experience will be different
than yours…
The
lives of this year's high school students have spanned three decades, two
centuries, and two millenniums. Few people in history have been able to claim
such a feat.
They
grew up with computers and the Internet in their homes, which has shaped the
way they learn and communicate.
Everything
is at their fingertips and they've grown accustomed to finding information in a
matter of seconds using their smart phones and tablets.
Library
terms such as "Dewy Decimal System" and "microfiche" are
likely Greek to them.
They've
grown up in post-9/11 America, and most of them can't remember a time when the
War in Afghanistan wasn't being fought.
They
don't know the meaning of "Be Kind, Rewind."
They'll
never experience the sweet joy of waiting for hours to record the best song on the radio onto a
cassette tape.
They’ve never lived in a world
with monthly texting limits.
If you say, “You sound like a broken
record,” chances are they won’t understand you.
They don’t understand where the
shutter sound your phone makes when it takes a picture comes from.
Point-and-shoot
cameras are soooooo last millennium.
They’ve never had the crushing
realization that their disposable camera pictures didn’t come out well.
Some of them were born the same
year the first Apple stores opened.
You can say with 100% confidence
that you have MP3s older than they are.
They’ll never know the LIE that
was “anti-skip” technology on a CD player.
They’ve always had GPS and have
never had to look up directions and print them out.
“Roll down your window” has no
meaning.
Neither does “don’t touch that
dial.”
They’ve never had to untangle a
phone cord or straighten an antenna for TV reception
Beanie Babies were never seen as
a gold mine to them.
They
prefer to watch television everywhere except on a television.
They
can carry school books--those that are not on their e-Readers--in backpacks that
roll.
And chances are they have never burned a CD.
They’ve never experienced the
frustration of trying to record your favorite songs from the radio to a tape,
only to have the DJ start talking and ruin everything.
Their
lives have been measured in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and
bauds.
They
can’t picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather than
rolling it.
While
still fans of music on radio, they often listen to it on their phones or
replace it with music they’ve downloaded.
Their
folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the
bookshelf.
Exposed
bra straps have always been a fashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunction to
be corrected quietly by well-meaning friends.
A
significant percentage of them will enter college already displaying some
hearing loss.
They
have lived in an era of instant stardom and self-proclaimed celebrities, famous
for being famous.
Outdated
icons with images of floppy discs for “save,” a telephone for “phone,” and a
snail mail envelope for “mail” have oddly decorated their tablets and smart
phone screens.
Star
Wars has
always been just a film, not a defense strategy.
Along
with online view-books, parents have always been able to check the crime stats
for the colleges their kids have selected.
Before
they purchase an assigned textbook, they will investigate whether it is
available for rent or purchase as an e-book.
History
has always had its own channel.
The
Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,”
“Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them.
My List of Graduation Posts is HERE
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