By Connie Kaplan, RegainAmerica Staff Writer, March 26, 2007
DATELINE: 1958. PLACE: The United States.
One day in 1958, 14 year old Jane and 10 year old Billy woke up early to get ready for school. They ate a breakfast of bacon and eggs prepared by their mother who was a homemaker. They drank fresh milk from bottles that had just been delivered to their home by their friendly milkman. The children's parents ate breakfast with them. Then their father drove Jane to her middle school, and dropped Billy off at his elementary school, before going on to work.
The children attended public schools in the neighborhood. The schools were in open areas with grass and trees and the only section of the elementary school that was fenced off was the playground used by the kindergarten.
During lunch, Jane felt a headache coming on. She took an over-the-counter aspirin from her purse that her mother had given her to carry for just that purpose. After that her headache felt better.
After school, both children were picked up by their mother and driven home. After a snack, they watched the Mickey Mouse Club on TV for an hour, and then did their homework. After finishing their homework, there was still time before dinner, so Billy played ball on the front lawn while Jane walked to the library to return her library books. The children's mother spent the afternoon working on a PTA project, and then prepared dinner.
When the childrens' father came home, the family sat down to dinner. They all talked together about the events of the day. Then the children cleared off the table and loaded the dishwasher while the parents watched the news. After the news, the whole family watched a variety show together before going to bed for a good night's sleep - with every member looking forward to the new day ahead.
Hopelessly idyllic?
You bet.
Admittedly "old-fashioned"?
You bet.
But - actually pretty close to the reality of 1958 America?
You bet!
Now let us look at a similar family in the present.
One morning in 2008, 14 year old Jane and 10 year old Billy overslept because they were tired. Their parents were long divorced and the previous night their mother had been out late with her newest boyfriend, so Jane and Billy had stayed up late eating cookies and watching re-runs of "Will and Grace".
Their mother was still asleep, so Jane got a box of cereal and shook some in a bowl for Billy's breakfast. She grabbed a chocolate donut for herself. The carton of milk in the refrigerator had expired a few days ago, but the milk didn't smell too sour yet, so Jane splashed some in the bowl for Billy and poured a glass for herself. They ate standing up at the kitchen counter. Jane worried about her homework assignment which she had not completed from the day before, while Billy read about the missing kids whose faces appeared on the milk carton.
After breakfast Jane ran to her school in one direction, while Billy ran to his school bus stop in the opposite direction. When the bus arrived, the usual gang of bullies were hogging most of the seats. Billy couldn't get a seat until the bus driver screamed at the bullies and then one of the bullies got mad and hit Billy on the arm. When the bus got to school Billy looked drearily out at the forbidding school that looked more like a fortress with its barbed wire fences and heavily barred windows.
Jane arrived at her school as the first bell was ringing. As usual, there was a long line in front of school as the kids filed in one by one through the metal detectors which had recently been installed. This morning the guards were also conducting spot-checks of the students' backpacks and purses, so the line took longer than usual, and Jane was late to her first class.
During lunch, 14 year old Jane had a headache. She knew better than to take any medication though since, under her school's Zero Tolerance policy, any student who took even an over the counter aspirin while on campus would be instantly expelled. Besides, she had been sleeping with her boyfriend for several months, and her period was late, and just in case she was pregnant, she knew medicine was bad for a fetus or something.
After school, Jane walked home alone and Billy took the bus. Their mother was at work and wouldn't be home until 8:00, so Billy watched "Jerry Springer" on TV while Jane talked to her boyfriend. Billy asked Jane if he could play outside but Jane told him "no" - their mother had said Billy was forbidden ever to play outside the house since there were so many "crazy people" around. Then Billy tried to do some homework while he watched TV, and Jane tried to do her homework while also checking in on some of her favorite internet "chat" rooms.
When their mother returned home she poured herself a glass of wine and popped a couple of TV dinners in the microwave for the kids. She was tired from her job and snapped at Billy when he asked her for help with his homework. But then the childrens' father called and Billy's mother told Jane to help Billy with his math while she got on the phone and told her husband he was a pig because he was late with the support check again. She was still screaming at her ex-husband when Jane and Billy gave up trying to do their homework and got themselves ready for bed. Billy fell asleep listening to their mother's tirade, while Jane put Ludacris on her MP3 and, pulling her headphones over her ears tried to think about what she would do if she were really pregnant. She'd probably want to keep it - she knew several girls who already had babies. On the other hand, she could always get an abortion, since her mom would never have to know. Her boyfriend could pay for it, or she could take the money from her mom's purse like she had done before. She finally fell asleep, while her mother in the living room also fell asleep, on the couch, next to her bottle of wine. And all three of them, Jane, Billy, and their mother, dreaded the next day - when it would all begin again.
And for those who say that the 2008 family must be an exaggeration - the sad answer is no. . . it's NOT.
American Values are UNQUESTIONABLY in a state of Crisis.
A few examples:
- Families are in disarray. The economic necessity of both parents having to work, together with the increase in single mothers and divorced couples have led to more parents who are tired and overwhelmed. "Latchkey" children, the exception to the rule in 1950's America, is now the norm.
- Schools are under siege. Metal detectors are installed to prevent students bringing guns and knives to school. America has continued to lose its war on drugs. Now "Zero Tolerance" school policies with harsh penalties (i.e., expulsion) outlaw even Over The Counter aspirin in schools across the nation.
- Teenage promiscuity is rampant. And there is a new acceptability of teenage pregnancy with some schools actually sponsoring day care for their teenage mommies - who keep getting younger and younger.
- In the 1930's, and 40's, and 50's, children could walk and bike and play throughout their neighborhood without fear. In the America of today, any parent who lets their young child play or bike or walk outside their home without a watchful adult close by can politely be called "foolhardy".
- Americans in the 1950's were scandalized by Elvis Presley's gyrating hips. But Americans in 2008 consider hardly anything to be scandalous. We have replaced the arguably "stuffy" and "old-fashioned" values of 1958 America with a laissez-faire culture where virtually "anything goes". This is true of all the arts, but perhaps most affected, is our music. Now "gangsta rap" and "hip-hop" and other "music" of that ilk are in the mainstream, extant with their vile and obscene lyrics which, as often as not, advocate violence along with an assortment of other anti-social values.
Clearly America has lost its way.
This, then, is an example of what RegainAmerica is all about.
As we say in our "About" page, RegainAmerica began as a memory - of the way things used to be in America, and the belief that by working together we can regain the greatness that once was America.
RegainAmerica is a new multi-functional community website that empowers all of us working both individually and collectively - to change the present status quo and to RegainAmerica!!
Let us all work together to help America find its way back.