scott rubin and i need a little help from you for our middle school ministry book. in the “middle school culture” chapter, we have a list of things that didn’t exist when we were in middle school (well, at least when i was in middle school, in the mid-70s). here’s what we have:
– Cell phones
– The internet (meaning, websites and buying stuff online and everything else that is so completely normal today)
– Text Messages
– IM
– Hybrid Cars
– Social Networking
– “Friends with benefits”
– “Bi-Curious”
– Cable TV
– Digital Video Recording (or TiVo)
– Mp3s and downloadable music
– DVDs
– Hi-Def
– Satellite Radio
– Xboxes and Wiis and other amazing gaming systems (“Pong” was introduced when I, Marko, was a young teen, and “Space Invaders” had just showed up in the commons of a local community college).
– Email
– Spam (the email variety – we had the stuff in the can, made of humans).
– Any kind of camera, video or still, that didn’t need developing.
– Cordless phones
– In-ear headphones
– Ringtones
– Call waiting
– iChat or other video conferencing
– snowboards and wakeboards
– rollerblades
– an African American president and a female Secretary of State
– Airport Security (and National Security levels, and Terrorist threats)
– Internet porn
– snowboards and wakeboards
– rollerblades
– Starbucks
– Viagra
– Plastic Pop Bottles
– X Games
– Energy Drinks
– Home Theaters (?)
– The Simpsons, Spongebob, American Idol and a host of other dependable TV staples
– Reality TV
– Crack Cocaine
– Minivans
– GPS
– Disposable Cameras
– Disposable Contacts
– Abortion Pill
– Doppler Radar
– Space Shuttle
– USA Today
– HIV
– Paintball and Airsoft
– Laser Tag
– ESPN
– iPods
– MTV (could be in the “started and faded away” list…)
– DNA fingerprinting
– Artificial Heart
– Fantasy Sports Teams (which are still lame)
– Cloning animals
– The SuperBowl as a kind of National Holiday (I’m reaching)
– Cutting (?)
– “Walkman” came & went — remember that!
– Suitcases with wheels on the bottom (seriously …. Nobody had em!)
– most piercings… Besides ears…
– McDonalds Playlands
this second list is things that didn’t exist when we were in middle school, then came on the scene in a major way, and have already faded:
– Fax machines
– CDs (seriously – who buys CDs anymore? They’re the betamax cartridge of this generation.)
– Video tapes
– Internet chat rooms
– Really, we could put email on this list, since teenagers don’t use email anymore, except to communicate with parents or teachers.
– Music videos played on MTV
– The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
– The Walkman (pre-mp3 cassette and CD players)
what are we missing?? would love to hear as many additional ideas as you have…
