My little brother Aaron is going to be one weird adult. Or so I think. I am totally confused about what the hell the kids of today do for fun, what they listen to, what they think. When I was 11, my high point was going to Shinders and getting a pack of baseball cards and possibly taping songs off KDWB. I played video games probably about an hour a week, more so if I had a friend come over on a Friday or Saturday. I had very little knowledge of what was "cool" in music and films (although I did get into Clerks pretty early). But I just don't understand how kids now work.
Back to Aaron. Pretty much all he does is play shitty simulation video games like The Sims and Theme Park. That, and play baseball and other little league sports. Unlike me, he never just goes off into the woods or goes off on a bike and explores stuff. The weird thing is, no little kids in my area do. What the hell are they doing? I can remember spending the entire summer outside as a kid, riding my bike up to Brookdale and things like that. My brother would be scared shitless to go up to the gas station two blocks away.
It also is really strange how Aaron really doesn't listen to any current popular music. I am not sure that all little kids have a fondness for crappy 80s pop and Johnny Cash like him. I am pretty sure, however, that most kids between 11-15 really don't have favorite bands anymore. When I was 11, I really liked the Spin Doctors and the song "I'm Gonna Be" by the Proclaimers. And that was lame as hell, but it was pretty tame. Now, you don't really see anything marketed to kids under 16, except for those "Kidz Bop" CDs and maybe "Now That's What I Call Music". The good majority of music played on top 40 radio now is way too raunchy to be convienently marketed to youth. The most raunchy top 10 songs from when I was 11 years old were probably "Whoomp! There it Is!" and "Baby Got Back". And those songs were no raunchier than Rod Stewart telling a woman to "spread her wings and let him come inside" in 1976.
Today, you have things like "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas and "Candy Shop". Hell, sometimes I get a little uncomfortable with the shit they say in those songs.
My point is, how can there be any sort of youth culture if they are all too overprotected to do anything outside of their homes and have nothing to hold them to the current popular culture? I was primed on making my own decisions by going out and experiencing things without my immediate family. This allowed me to discover certain kinds of entertainment and think for myself. Where is this going to come from now?
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