Kids

Growing Up 90’s: The Offspring- “The Kids Aren’t Alright”

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“When we were young the future was so bright

The old neighborhood was so alive

And every kid on the whole damn street

Was gonna make it big and not be beat

Now the neighborhood is cracked and torn

The kids are grown up but their lives are worn

How can one little street swallow so many lives?”

The No Seatbelt Blog is getting serious this week on Growing Up 90’s with a song that has always been powerful but hits much closer to home these days. The Offspring has been one of my favorite bands since I heard their breakthrough album Smash in 1994. Album after album, the blindingly fast guitar riffs from the six-string maestro known as Noodles, the always-shouted vocals from lead singer Brian “Dexter” Holland, and the band’s ability to master both the hilarious and the heart-wrenching with their music have been an easy sell for me.  Continue reading →

Kids These Days (And The Overprotective, Overbearing Parents That Made Them This Way)

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Today’s population of new-age parents has given birth to a doomed generation. Kids are now tumbling out of the womb with connected devices in tow, and are then hovered over and doused with hand sanitizer by their obsessive “helicopter mommies”. They’re coddled and reassured that they’re special (they’re not) and entitled (also not), and most obnoxiously of all, are taught to be victims, and to be offended by everything. They’re given increasingly stupid names, and are not taught to think or stand up for themselves. They’re taught that winning is not important (it is), and as a result, everyone is given a participation trophy just for showing up and breathing. They have access to a multitude of screens that present them with a virtual reality that precludes them from ever having to go outside. Kids that are inclined to defend themselves are afraid to fight back in battles that they didn’t even initiate, for fear of getting suspended or expelled by schools that harbor overzealous “zero tolerance” policies. When I was in grade school, a bully was the kid who physically beat you up on the playground. He (or she) was the punk who made you fear for your well-being in a very tangible way. Continue reading →