Star Beacon
April 03, 2008 06:42 pm
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Remember the film “American Graffiti?” It asked you the question, “Where were you in 1962?”
If you were a teenager in 1962 or even 72 or 82 or 92, you were tooling around in your car, just like in the movie.
Maybe yours wasn’t as shiny as the ones in the George Lucas movie, but teens — especially guys — were enamored with cars.
They drove them, they worked on them, they got an after-school job to support them.
We had gasoline stations on every block, lots of drive-in movie theaters and several new-car dealerships.
Teens weren’t the only ones in love with their cars. The new-car dealerships were necessary because adults traded their vehicles in every two or three years.
And what kid couldn’t wait to get his or her driver’s license?
It meant freedom from the old man and old lady. It meant heading down the open road, going where you want to go, doing what you want to do. Non-satellite radio blaring.
That was then. This is now.
Getting your license and an automobile are no longer so important.
Your identity isn’t decided by the vehicle you drive. It’s no longer, “George, is he the one who drives the 64 Mustang convertible?”
Since 2000, the number of 16-year-olds with licenses has dropped from 54 to 47 percent in Ohio, according to Ohio Department of Public Safety statistics and U.S. census estimates. Nationally, the percentage dropped from 41 percent in 1996 to 29.8 percent in 2006, the Federal Highway Commission reports.
Turns out kids don’t need cars so much anymore. And it’s pretty difficult to tool around town in your 57 Chevy with gasoline at $3.30 per gallon.
First, kids communicate via cell phone. Everybody has one. They text each other. Why, they can even talk on them. New phones will have tracking devices, not so parents can keep track of their kids. It’s so kids can keep track of their friends.
Everyone hops on their computers when they get home from school, too.
With the computer, they can visit with each other via the myriad of instant messenger programs. Most computers today have built-in webcams so instant messaging not only means typing back and forth but seeing and hearing each other, too.
Kids create their own virtual worlds in chatrooms, by playing games online from their respective homes, linked via the Internet; or in social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook.
Now on the surface this all seems pretty good. Parents don’t have to worry so much about where there kids are late at night. Also with teens not driving around so much, there is less vehicle wear and tear, less gasoline being burned, less global warming.
Another reason kids are less likely to get their licenses — get ahold of your seat — kids are getting along better with their parents. Let me say that again. Kids are getting along better with their parents.
Having Mom or Dad chauffeur Junior around isn’t so embarrassing any more.
I can’t even begin to explain that one.
There are also all kind of restrictions on 16 and 17-year-olds driving. Kids can have only so many people in the car at the time. They can’t drive during certain hours. They must take driving classes if they get their licenses before age 18 and that includes a certain number of practice hours.
Cars used to keep kids connected. The computer and cell phone do that today. So why go through the hassle of getting the license, especially when they can simply take the test and drive when they hit 18. No classes, no restrictive hours.
But all is not perfect. Social networking sites can be dangerous. Parents, make certain you check out www.deadkidsofmyspace.com as an example. If teens only communicated with friends and school mates, that’s one thing.
But child molesters and rapists find these sites a gold mine of opportunity. And here’s a dirty little secret, some teens know they are talking to adults and welcome the attention.
So parents, don’t be lulled into a feeling of complacency because your kids aren’t out hotrodding down the street. If you really want to be unpopular, haul the computer into a public room in the house instead of Junior’s bedroom.
Here’s something else to consider: Will today’s young generation retain habits when they get older?
Imagine a world where people don’t know their neighbors because they are in chatrooms with someone in Somalia.
Imagine a world where people don’t shop for clothes or appliances or movies or music in stores, but order online. Many pizza shops allow ordering online, too. You don’t even need to talk to another human when you want stromboli delivered to your house.
Some day, you may never need to leave your home. The next generation may be working out of their homes.
Already, fewer people are socializing at video stores. You can order movies from your cable company, order from Netflix or go to places like hulu.com and watch programs on your computer.
Heck, there may be some who won’t get their licenses even when they turn 18. They can live their lives via cell phone and computer, all in one room.
There was a discussion recently on Star Beacon forums from people who talk back and forth each day, but have never met these people for real, don’t even know their real names.
They may exchange information via computer, talk about their kids, become friends online. Yet one may wait on the other in a restaurant, style his or her hair or pass in the grocery store and have no idea it’s the same person they communicate with online.
I think there is a doctoral dissertation in there somewhere.
Meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out why kids aren’t ashamed of their parents anymore.
Lebzelter is special sections editor. E-mail him at bobleb@starbeacon.com.
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A ROBERT LEBZELTER column