Re: 25 years ago...

chessylady · ‎05-01-2010

I remember when the Berlin Wall came down. People would risk their lives going over the wall to West Berlin before the wall came down. We naively believed that it was the beginning of the end of Communism but it just morfed into different types. Walls do not stop people seeking opportunity and prosperity.

Irshgrl31201 · ‎03-18-2010

On 11/9/2014 mstyrion 1 said:
On 11/9/2014 Irshgrl31201 said:
On 11/9/2014 wookie said:
All children like to play, but some events are so momentous that we pause from that to experience something that is huge news. I remember the day Alan Shepard, the first American to fly into space, embarked on his flight. My elementary school piped it through the intercom system into every classroom, so we could all listen to the coverage as it happened. I would be very surprised if something as important as the collapse of the Berlin Wall was not discussed in school.

When that happened there were no 24 hr news channels bombarding people like there are today. That was a family event that everyone sat around and watched. I am certainly not saying that the Berlin Wall was not a huge event but I remember being in school when Challenger blew up and I didn't find out until I got home. It wasn't even talked about.

I was 9 years old when JFK was assassinated.

The memory is very strong even today. There was certainly no cable news, 24 hour news channels or internet back then. The announcement was made at school and the coverage was on TV constantly for days.

I can't imagine important world events not being announced and discussed in schools 25 years ago, 10 years ago or today.

JFK was a national tragedy that the nation mourned for a long time. The Great Wall coming down didn't have nearly the shock and awe that JFK did frankly because it wasn't happening in our country and didn't affect us like that did. We had 3 channels when JFK died so we had no choice but to watch it. When the wall came down cable was already in existence and the country had a lot more choices in what they could watch and avoid watching.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
JFK

september · ‎03-09-2010

I do remember it, but I was a bit older than 9. Not sure I paid attention to such events at that age. Anyway, I also clearly remember when Ronald Reagan issued the challenge to Gorbachev to "tear down this wall". I think it's incredible that it actually happened a relatively short time later.

Marienkaefer2 · ‎03-09-2010

On 11/9/2014 minkbunny said:
On 11/9/2014 Marienkaefer2 said: I remember being aware of a lot of current events growing up. Our family always had the evening news on while we ate dinner. Then the adults would discuss it. My parents always got the newspaper. In Phoenix, there was the morning paper, the Arizona Republic, and the late afternoon paper, the Phoenix Gazette. We got the Gazette. My dad would read the paper after dinner and then talk about what he was reading with my mom. We kids were always around. So we were pretty well.informed growing up.

So glad you posted this, I was thinking the same thing but didn't want to sound like my family were intellectual snobs. We always listened to the local and national news together, on the radio at my grandparent's house in the early days and on the tv as I got a bit older. I cannot imagine not being able to see the newsreels of the Presidential elections, sadly the assassinations, the Vietnam War, and so many other newsworthy events. I remember the Beatles coming off their plane and later John Lennon's tragic early death, the Manson killings, the killings of the nurses in Illinois, the John Wayne Gacy murders, and of course all the celebratory events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, moon walk and other space flights, tragically the Challenger explosion. Too many memories to recall right now but they are stored in my memory bank and I am grateful for that knowledge.

Some of these events were watched with my parents and grandparents, some with my children. All were learning experiences, some of the horror we never want to see again and some of the joy we hope to experience over and over.

Our home was also always filled with the daily newspapers and national weekly news magazines.

I grew to be a very informed and inquisitive person as did all of my children.

Sadly, some young people today could not even name the leaders of this country.

Hi minkbunny!

If reading the newspaper and listening to the news and discussing it is being an intellectual snob, then...

to give some perspective, my grandparents were immigrants who didn't go to high school and owned their own business, neither of my parents went to college. My dad was a cop (who worked his way up and went part-time to get his degree after we were grown), my mom was a SAHM who worked part-time jobs while we were in school.

All of my friends' families were this way. It was just normal to watch the news, read the paper, discuss events. When aunts and uncles and great-grandparents came over, we always talked about current events. I don't remember big fighting either. Just respectful discussion.

So the kids were either at the table, or running around in the background listening to this.

We grew up inquisitive and informed as well. But it was a neutral type of informed. We just talked about things as they were. I can't thing of any other way to explain it. Everything today gets skewed one way or the other.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.--Marcus Tullius Cicero

scotttie · ‎03-09-2010

On 11/9/2014 september said: I do remember it, but I was a bit older than 9. Not sure I paid attention to such events at that age. Anyway, I also clearly remember when Ronald Reagan issued the challenge to Gorbachev to "tear down this wall". I think it's incredible that it actually happened a relatively short time later.

Yes! As I said earlier I truly never thought I would see it in my lifetime.

Plaid Pants · ‎11-03-2014

This is what *I* remember about 25 years ago.

Surfnturf · ‎03-09-2010

My parents didn't talk about current events with us, but my husband and I did while raising our son. We talked about current events over dinner, and our son grew up that way. My husband has an encyclopedic knowledge of history, and geography. I'd like to think that's why our son has such an interest in history, and current events. But it could just be his nature. He was always a good student.