Events, Trends, and Technology That Shaped Their Lives

Generational Differences

Events, Trends, and Technology That Shaped Their Lives

Traditionalists

Born 1920-1942, Age 10 in 1930-1952

• The Great Depression • WWII

• Pearl Harbor • Atomic Bomb

• Korean War • Stay-at-home moms

• Listened to the radio as youth • High tech = slide rule

• Blackberry = fruit

• PDA = public display of affection not personal digital assistant

Baby Boomers

Born 1942-1960, Age 10 in 1952-1970

• Viet Nam • Civil Rights Movement

• Cuban Missile Crisis • Pres. Kennedy Assassination

• Man walked on moon • Woodstock

• Kent State • Watergate

• Sexual Revolution • Time of economic growth

• Many moms stayed at home • Touch tone phones

• Three TV channels • Calculator

KORCOS 2012 International Education Conference Seoul American Elementary School ‘Generational Differences’ Chiaki Choe Yun Danforth

Darby Donaho Sheryl Frascht

Lori Lundy Erika Weidman

Gen Xers

Born 1960-1980, Age 10 in 1970-1990

• Challenger disaster • Silicon Valley

• Fall of Berlin Wall • Watergate

• Operation Desert Storm • Energy crisis

• LA riots • AIDS

• Latch-key kids • VCRs

• Sesame Street • Cell phones

• Hundreds of TV channels • AOL

• Computer games • TIVO

Millenials

Born 1980-2005, Age 10 in 1990-2015

• 9/11 • DVDs

• Oklahoma City bombing • Play station

• Gulf War • PDAs

• Operation Desert Storm • IPOD

• Israeli/Palestinian conflict • Mp3s

• Columbine • Ctrl+Alt+Del

• Downsizing of corporations • Yahoo

• Dot Com crash • Google

• The Internet

Rutherford, Paula. The 21st Century Mentor’s Handbook. Alexandria, VA: Just Ask Publications, Attitudes, Skills, &

Knowledge (ASK), Inc., 2005.