Thanks Sandy. I do not have children and now at age 57 don't plan on any but what I base my comments on are observations as well as conversations by both parents and what I call "kids" which could be 30-year olds now!
I know in years past (and could fall in that time frame you say when there has been a shift in interest) that anything "old" did not interest kids. This includes black and white movies as they categorize anything non color as "boring".
The way we live has drastically changed as well. It is all about being casual and comfortable rather than appearing proper. It shows even in homes where they are now designed with "great rooms" and lack any formal dining rooms for formal dinner parties. And the China, Crystal, Silver industry has taken a big blow as brides are no longer registering for these items to pass on as heirlooms but want "stuff" they can use right now and phift with the kids getting anything when they croke. I know as my partner was the head bridal consultant for Macy's before getting terminal cancer. Even the housing market itself is floundering here at least because no one wants the hassle of maintenance including painting, cutting and watering grass or doing landscaping, or even wanting to be neighborly neighbors. They rather live in condos or apartments now - less fuss as I mentioned. It all trickles down and the kids of today are children of parents who also grew up in an electronic world. me, i still remember 3 television channels, two going off air at sunset. Rotary dial telephones on party lines. Full service gas stations and miss it all.
I am glad kids are starting to take an interest but is it a short lived trend as happened in the 1980s where kids all of the sudden were interested in their parents and their music (disco)?
Eric
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mary Sands "Sandy" Satterwhite
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2014 7:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Cemeteries and Burial question
I agree with a large portion of what you say in this post. But I need to add kinda" a wait a minute" to your last paragraph. I work as an historical interpreter and I see hundreds of school children a year that come to learn about the past. Yes, tons are there only because their school brought them and they can't wait to get out, but in the past few years I'm beginning to see an upswing in young children with a deep fascination with learning about the past and how people lived. I've seen that it's often the grandparents who bring them back to the site- because the child told them they had so much fun on the school trip they wanted to come back. So from my limited vantage point, I do see something I have not been seeing in the past and it is noticeable and encouraging.
Maybe I tend to be more optimistic than pessimistic, but I think if history can be presented in a way the younger generation can relate to, you will make converts. Society is very self absorbed just by the nature of all the high tech stuff we live with, but show someone how people like ourselves lived, worked, loved and died and you will find a large majority will be interested..And I believe as long as civilization lasts, there will be that interest in /"how did they do that?"/ as people look back to the past.
Oh, well, enough said, that's my 5 cents!
Sandy
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