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  • Essay / The generation gap and rock'n'roll in the 1950s

    The growing divide between teenagers and older generations in the 1950s was collectively called the generation gap and was primarily blamed on the impact of rock 'n' roll. on adolescents. Today's teenagers and generation take their teenage period for granted, as the term teenager was only created in the 1950s. “Before the 20th century, teenagers did not exist” (Altschuler) . Before there was an adolescent period in life, people were still considered children and children at the age of 13 until they reached adulthood. This is one of the main reasons why parents of children in the 1950s were baffled by the idea of ​​there being a period of adolescence; they have never experienced it themselves. The parents of these new generation children were used to listening to their parents' orders and expected the same with their own children. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay With the introduction of rock 'n' roll, parents began to associate their children's behavior with the corruption established in the music they listened to. They had never been rebellious teenagers themselves and were shocked to live in a time when parents tried so hard, only to get no recognition in return from their children. In my opinion, before the 1950s, children were accustomed to being oppressed and controlled by their parents' wishes and demands. Rock 'n' roll allowed these children to learn more about themselves, establish their identity, break free from the control of their parents and learn more about the world around them, which inevitably led to what are considered rebellious acts. of them, such as early marriages, friendships with boys, disinterest in academic work, among other things. Before rock'n'roll, there was of course the beautiful blues and jazz on which rock'n'roll was based. However, society before the birth of rock'n'roll was so filled with racial prejudice that they didn't even pay attention to this music, and perhaps if they had, they could have experimented what it is to be a teenager. Also. The rebellious actions that worried the parents were normal signs of a teenager living his life. “Much of what was called juvenile delinquency was the normal exuberance of youth” (Altschuler). However, they were unable to realize this because they did not have their own adolescent stage and never even thought of rebelling against their own parents, which pushed the teenagers and parents towards a generational gap. While the teenagers couldn't understand why their parents were so opposed to their musical tastes and their lifestyle in general (since they weren't doing anything wrong), the parents themselves couldn't really explain what was so boring in rock'n'roll. Dick Clark's opinion was that "some adults were jealous or hypercritical of their teenagers" (Altschuler), which is completely understandable. The parents of these children grew up being oppressed by all types of adults. When they went to school, they were criticized by their instructors for doing something out of the ordinary, such as talking to an acquaintance when they shouldn't be (Altschuler), when they were At home, they were expected to follow strict regulations and rules. , and if they didn't, they would be punished for it. As we can.