Sue Scheff: Parenting the Next Generation
Check out this new innovative parenting website - http://www.nextgenparenting.com/ - which offers great idea, parenting skills, parenting books, Blogs and more!
Parenting today has become more and more challenging. Whether it is Social Networking, Texting or some other new form of communication this New Generation of kids are using - we as parents need to keep informed and up to date!
Check out their NextGenBlog here: http://nextgenparenting.com/blog/
Here is a brief example from NextGenParenting:
Who Are You?
The Who asked this question in the 1960s, but their Boomer generation is still searching for the answer. The soul searching, self-actualizing hippies that characterize our parents' generation (1943-1960) are called Prophets by Strauss and Howe, "because they are remembered best for their coming-of-age passion and principled elder stewardship."
But clean-cut behavior can be a good thing. The last Artist generation experienced the lowest levels of suicide, teen pregnancy, crime and drug abuse in history. They also scored higher on standardized tests than any generation before or after.
Next came Generation X (1961-1981), which Strauss and Howe describe as Nomads. "We remember Nomads best for their rising-adult years of hell-raising and for their midlife years of hands-on, get-it-done leadership," say the authors. Gen X has now given birth to the Homeland Generation. (Gen X was the only generation whose alphabetical letter stuck. Today's teens, once known as Gen Y, rejected that label and voted online to change it to "The Millennial Generation." The Homeland babies could easily change their name as they come to define themselves in later years, but that's the only nickname floating around generational circles at the present time.)
In predictable generational reincarnation, the Homelanders will be Artists like all generations that follow Nomads. Other Artist generations include the log-cabin settlers of the early 1800s and the new suburbanites of the 1960s. Famous Artists include John Quincy Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Colin Powell, and Sandra Day O'Connor. Strauss and Howe assert that, "they rank as the most expert and credentialed of American political leaders." Caring and open-minded, Artist generations are known for being sentimental, pluralistic and expressive . . . that's why they're called Artists.
Earlier Artist generations included the first women's libbers and the earliest civil rights activists. Artists see problems and use song, art, novels, speeches, and other forms of artistic expression to raise social consciousness to bring about change—think of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Martin Luther King Jr.
On the flip side, Artists are also known for being passive and obedient. Famous Artist children include Shirley Temple, Debbie Reynolds, and The Little Rascals. They're the adorable little boys and girls seen in Norman Rockwell paintings. Why are they so clean cut?
Strauss and Howe say that, "Artists enter childhood surrounded by no-nonsense adults who fiercely protect, even envelop them at a time when mighty events are deciding the fate of nations." Former American President John Quincy Adams "held his mother's hand as he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from safety." If this sounds familiar to children and parents experiencing the events of September 11, 2001, it should. Because these children grow up in an overprotective environment, they tend to listen to their elders and follow rules while yearning for greater freedoms. That's why they grow up to be so expressive about social change; as adults they become like birds moving out from under their parents' protective wings and suddenly bursting into song.
