My wife and I were in Lincoln, NE a few weeks ago and out of nowhere my cell phone signal dropped and the call was ended.  My call dropped in a city of…250,000+.  Gotta love cell service I mumbled to myself.  There wasn’t any grown corn in sight.  I looked at my wife and said, “ten years ago I didn’t have trouble with cell service.  My phone was analog only.  Ever since the digital signal came about my cell phone service has stunk.”  My wife looked at me and said, “honey, ten years ago you were graduating college.  You mean more like 15 years ago?”  Her memory is great.  Mine, not so much.

My point being is that were things so bad 15 years ago when we had analog cell phones?  How about 30 years ago when we had landline only (Alltel’s exorbitant fees not included)?  As I look back on the last 30 years I often wonder how schools have changed with the times.  Thirty years ago society or parents had a sense of responsibility that it was their job to make sure kids were raised to be respectful and honest.  I feel fortunate that many Nebraska communities hold similar values; however, this is not true for all communities and families.

When I grew up the role models we had; television shows we watched; and family dynamics were different than today.  We watched Leave it to Beaver, the Brady Bunch, the Cosby Show, and Andy Griffith (little did I know that some of these shows originally broadcast in the 1950’s and 1960’s).  These shows were similar to many families.  Families often sat around the table for dinner and shared their day.  I know my neighborhood did.  In a broader sense, kids were home for breakfast, at school for lunch, and home for dinner.

Current role models our children are seeing include (but are not limited to):  Miley Cyrus, Teen Mom, Family Guy (although Peter is funny from time to time), Toddlers and Tiaras, Honey Boo Boo and Real Housewives.  The television content and what is acceptable is completely different than when you or I grew up (heck, some of you probably didn’t even have a television growing up, let alone cable).  The family dynamics these shows and people portray on the whole reflect the changing morals and values of our communities.

The students coming into our schools today have many different and unique situations they come from.  The skills that students are expected to have to graduate to work with a diverse world are often taught during their time at school.  Old ways like pencil and paper have gave way to Google Drive and the Cloud.  Furthermore, more schools are keeping students busy from sunup to sundown and students are not home for that quality time that so many of us grew up with.  How many students probably fear a teacher more than their parents?

So good bye to the good old days of analog and in with the days of digital.  For better or worse.

Note:  I could write a book on the difference in music in the last twenty years so I will not go there with this post.