Happy Graduation, Class of 2007!

Tomorrow night (Friday, June 1st) Muskogee High School seniors will make their final public school journey across the stage and receive their diplomas. (Pray for no rain at Indian Bowl!!)

Their graduation has prompted many emotions during the last two weeks. While they are deliriously happy, parents and teachers have been somewhat apprehensive about the kind of world into which they will matriculate. Doomsday reports are all around, addressing everything from this generation's poor work ethic, lack of success on standardized tests, and the need for constant self-esteem boosts (NPR just did a report this week on employers having to give out certificates to the 20-something employees because they are used to getting cheered on for every little achievement).

A trip down Memory Lane can waylay any self-righteous feelings the older crowd might have about this generation's short comings, as well as assuage any doubt about their future. Just take a look:

1.)Hippies could have scared the living daylights out of any parent in the late 1960's and early '70's. Long hair, dirty clothes, no shoes, lack of ambition (possibly attributable to too much pot smoking), and that loud music. What kind of future did they have?

2.)The disco generation in the mid-to-late '70's were a little wild. They were like hippies on a bad acid trip covered in polyester. Hair was still long, people were still on drugs, and don't forget the principal on top of the building with binoculars trying to catch people smoking in their cars. Was that a bottle of vodka in your locker??

3.)Then came the preppie generation. I can't really think of anything bad about the kids from the early 1980's in their Ralph Lauren polo shirts. They were squeaky clean and all American. A case of beer and some cigarette smoking was about the worst thing they did. That and a toga party. And, ok, maybe too much beer. It lasted about 3 years.

4.)Ahhh, the mid-to-late 1980's. We wanted our MTV and we finally got it in Muskogee. I'm not sure it was for the best, but despite video games and MTV, these were some competitive years for Muskogee. We went to the state championship in football and I was sure there would be many doctors and lawyers in that group. There were.

5. The early 1990's ushered in the beginning of a bad era. Gangsta rap proliferated a whole generation of problems in which teachers and parents have been afraid that foul language, slackin' pants, scantily clad girls referred to in degrogatory terms, and the aggrandizement of thugs and drugs would undermine society at its core. Grunge rock came in with ripped jeans and flannel shirts and long hair again. Standardized test scores took a nose dive.
These former teens are now old enough to be the parents of our current crop of adolescents. They manage to wear their pants at waist level, hold down good jobs, and have lived through the most prosperous economic period of all time, the stock market at record peaks. They, too, have managed to be doctors, lawyers, and Nike executives.

See, they turned out okay despite long hair, poor capitalization of proper nouns, and too much beer. And, just like all these past generations, tomorrow's graduates stride headlong into the future, confident that everything will be groovy. So, should teachers and parents still worry about the future of this current crop of graduates? Probably, somebody has to keep vigil just to make sure. But, will this year's graduates become tomorrow's senators and lawyers and doctors and competent, self-actualized people? Most definitely. They have competencies for surviving in the world of tomorrow that we can't even begin to imagine.

Happy Graduation, Class of 2007, and best wishes for a long life full of happiness, love, and much success.