Why do 18-20 year olds (and younger) not know the classics?

Being born in 89 (currently 26), I feel as though the 90s were the best decade to be a kid, and the last good decade to be a kid before 9/11 started the decline. Me and my friends know the 90s pop culture by heart. But then you get to those just 6 years younger than me.

It's weird, but if you look at those "Teens React" videos, you'll see that the 1995 and up generation just doesn't know anything about classic 90s video games, anime, music, movies, or TV shows. Heck, they don't even know early 2000s classics. Why is that? Shouldn't a 20-year-old remember things from 2000-2005?

I know there are some cool Gen Z members here, like @Diablo Griffin or @goodiesguy, but the vast majority of them are uneducated, entitled, selfie-taking whiners glued to their phones.

 

Because they're not tied to TV and movies the way previous generations were. They'll be saying the same thing about kids born in the next generation - but "why don't they care about classic games?" And classic will not be Pong and Pacman but World Of Warcraft, etc. And, frankly, watching classic shows and movies these days, I can see why kids wouldn't connect. They're slow and the humor is silly while the drama is hammy. It's a different world for kids these days. They are not "uneducated, entitled, selfie-taking whiners." Most of the kids I see are KIDS, just like we were, and a lot of them show a sharp aptitude for much more than most of us did in our youths.

 

Also, they're is a ton of media for them to consume in THIS generation. When I was a teenager in the 90s, I was mostly concerned with the here and now, not what was already passed. I did like Zeppelin, Doors, Sabbath, etc, but for the most part, I was listening to new stuff, watching new movies, playing new video games, etc.

The thing with the "teens react" videos is they are probably not the norm. Those videos are popular because they are over the top.

Anyway, what do I know about what teens like? I'm 40, so I come across very few teens to know what media they consume.

 

Thanks for the shoutout . In high school, most of my friends were exactly how you describe Gen Z-ers, with a few exceptions of course. Many of those who didn't act like that were usually sportsy. It's mainly the quieter, smarter people my age who are to be the easiest for me to communicate with. With that said, one of the reasons I love SH.tv so much is because the members here are quite laid back and are well-behaved for the most part. Quite the opposite of most of my friends. This forum is where I feel "at home" the most, and it's great to be able to discuss things that interest me instead of hearing about social drama or the score to last night's game! Hopefully, all Gen Z-ers will become more educated and sophisticated as the years go by. As a part of this age-group, I feel that it's necessary to have some hope!

 

I'm "only" in my 30s but this has been my view since I was a teenager. I observed back then (and I wasn't the only one that noticed this) that my friends and peers that had friends from a wide range of age groups and also seemed to spend more time with their family had more interest in and were able to derive more pleasure from older music, movies, TV, games, and books (even though they liked newer stuff too) than those that generally associated only with people their own age and who didn't have a lot "family time" watching TV or movies or playing games.

 

'90s classics? 2000's classics?

Thanks for making me feel real old.

 

Because musical education. Scuse me while I play another Beethoven CD.

 

You start a thread called "Why do 18-20 year olds (and younger) not know the classics?", and you talk about '90s crap?

 

I like when young people are into things from their own time.

 

They don't know the classics because they are all over my lawn--Dagnabit, get off my lawn and listen to classics.

 

In the 90s there were no restrictions to what we listened to, with the exception of perhaps pre-Beatles. Most people I knew listened to the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zepellin, etc. Now I think kids settle for substitutes instead of the real thing. The bands of the early 90s could actually hold their own against the greats, not so with the bands of today. So with kids today, it's either one or the other.

 

Kids today are too busy having an actual social life.

 

You mean, a 'so-called' life!

 

bah humbug


and previous generations complained their offspring didn't know or appreciate Glenn Miller


"listen to that rock and roll...they're like a bunch of animals screaming"

and so on...

it is healthy for the new generations to forge on and develop their own ideas

you know you're an old fart when you sit around & complain about younger generations not appreciating your ERA


Here is a hero from a previous generation

 

Aw, c'mon. There was plenty of crap back in the good ol' days too. There was plenty of good stuff happening in the '90s too.

 

A 'semi-charmed kind of' life...

 

I'm 18 and since I was four or five I've been watching TV shows dating back to the 60s, classic films and been listening to music going back to the 50s and I know of lots of people of a similar age that are the same.

So yeah that's a pretty big generalisation you've got there.

 

No offense, but you probably don't see the unintended humor in all of this. The 90s were the best decade to be a kid (in your vast experience)? The last good decade to be a kid before 9/11 started the decline (uhh...it was the only decade before 9/11...)? Early 2000s "classics"?

What you don't mention is your own knowledge of pop culture from earlier eras...and by earlier, I don't mean the late 80s. My general experience (being much older than you) is that your "generation" is as clueless about prior eras as the "generation" subsequent to yours is as clueless about yours. I'm sure these '95-'05 born kids will be having the same reaction a few yrs from now when they reminisce about "classic" apps or whatever from the late 2000's and kids born after 2005 have no clue what they're talking about.

What you are experiencing are the first pangs of "getting old". Just wait until you're 35, 40, 50, my friend...you're seeing nothing right now.

 

This generation is funny, they watch youtube videos of people playing video games.

 

Maybe it's just an American thing. If you watch those "Teens React" videos (especially the Smash Bros. one), it seems the vast majority of the 1995 and up generation is completely ignorant.

 

The problem with saying things like "That was the best time to be a kid" is that you can only have one childhood. It isn't as if you can choose to taste test different eras. What you saw is what you got. I can certainly imagine having a lot of fun in the 70s instead of the 80s, but would I really have? I'll never know.

I don't think most kids are really aware of past events. The ones the OP mention sound no different than the ones I went to high school with 25 years ago in that regard.

 

Still, it's a rather popular opinion that 9/11 was when STRANGER DANGER started getting hammered into kids' heads, and their parents began coddling them and didn't let them play outside as much.

By 2015, most kids are glued to their iPads and rarely play outside anymore.

 

If you want to lay blame for stranger danger, id go a decade farther back than 9/11 and blame the popularity of Unsolved Mysteries and America's Most Wanted on TV.

 

I think the 80s were the best time to be a kid.
Oh wait, I was born in 1977 so of course I think that.

 

And I'd go back a decade before that, to the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh.