What has happened to Americas' Youth?

[CarMichael Angelo]

I decide to take my youngest ( 13 yr old) to Sonic tonight. Just Me and him.

I pull in w/ the Mustang expecting to see some high school kids and their cars, but was surprised to find nothing of the kind. The place is full of Camrys, SUV's Minivans, and general people movers. I pull in and don't even get looked at. I and my son get out of the car and sit at one of the tables in the middle area and order our food. It's 75 degrees, and low humidity today, but there are still the families running their cars w/ the A/C cranked and the windows rolled up so as not to expose themselves to the "drive-in" experience.
( Isn't the reason you go to Sonic is to kind of get a little piece of what it used to be like in the 60's and 70's)

Soon enough an F body and a 6 cyl 04 mustang come in w/ about 6 teen age males, but again to my surprise, they stick to themselves, and hang on the other side of the courtyard dicking around.

Finally the Icing on the cake. A guy pulls in, in a gorgeous 57 HT chevy.
I give the guy a nod and give him a chance to order. The teenagers on the other hand walk up to dude and ask him what kind of car this was???

That's like confusing the Washington monument with the Eiffel tower.

I let out a little laugh amazed that the car that was once an Icon and literally was lusted after by every car-guy kid in my school has now become a vehicle from Mars.

Like em or not, those cars are waay cool. Back in the day, when they're set up w/ a 6-71 on top of a BBC, and all that junk is under the hood wheeezing away,You know that if you valued your ass, you'd better leave dude alone.

For little Johnny to not know what it was, he should've been made to stand in the corner.

 

[Riceslayer302.0]

this is what happened

 

[95BlueStallion]

Imports happened. Then American econo wanna be imports happened. There are still kids out there that know about muscle. We didnt have a single import guy in my auto class, granted that was already 10 friggin years ago... I have a couple high school aged cousins that are into muscle cars though. You know something else that happened though? Luxury cars became fast. Now a days, a Lexus or Mercedes will outrun that 6-71 '57. Dads of the kids teach them its more fun to have fun in comfort, and all masculinity is handed aside for the brake assisted, park yourself cars. That is what kids dream about now a days.

 

[aar0s]

Have you really looked at the guys in HS? they look frail, like a good breeze could blow them over. "Adjusting a carb? reading spark plugs? no way man, ill just wait for the light on the dash to come on," is the new trouble shooting. Their stupid, lazy, and spoiled, just like most of their parents.

 

[LarsD]

Their stupid, lazy, and spoiled, just like most of their parents.

Unfortunately this is how America is headed. There are a few true teenage gear heads in existence. 10-12 years ago when I was a teenager, instead of going out and drinking/partying like most kids my age, I was spinning wrenches and hitting up the race track. It has only gotten worse. Wanton ignorance and the loss of men being men is rapidly becoming the norm.

I blame feminism and spineless fathers not raising their kids correctly.

 

[FastDriver]

They don't hang out at Sonic anymore. BTW, a new rwd V8 mustang is a $30+k car. Kids don't drive them because the manufacturers target mid-life guys with careers instead of teenagers trying to get around on $4/gal gasoline. If the V8 mustang were a $20k car and gas were still $1/gallon, then you'd see plenty of them being driven.

There's nothing wrong with the kids today, aside from the fact that they can't have a conversation without checking their text messages 3-4 times. I have 4 little brothers: A senior in college, a sophomore in college, and twins that are seniors in high school. All of them played ball. All of them are pretty tough kids. They aren't car guys, but they've got great values and are going to be good men.

The only disturbing thing to me is the increasingly internet-based social networking......but.... here I am BSing with you guys. So, I guess it's just a new way of life that I haven't gotten used to, yet.

The only thing you're going to find an Sonic are 30+ y/o guys in 40+ y/o cars or cars that are out of reach for the kids today.

 

[mob]

I think its just that everyone grew up. I look at teenagers and think god these people are annoying, but I am only 23, I realize I was like that not too long ago and just look the other way. I realize that there are different generations and as you grow older you have to adapt or you will just be left behind. Many old folks think the kids need to adapt to they way they want the world to be, but its really the other way around. We can hang on to our traditions and still enjoy the things we used to, but at the same time we need to stay fresh or we're gonna get left behind.

 

[FastDriver]

Yeah, teenagers and youth in general are going to change, but what's really important? Do we really need to adapt? My grandmother didn't like the internet and ended up canceling her service. She seems pretty happy socializing with the other ladies that go golfing a few times a week.

My mom and I both socialize on facebook, and I love being able to keep up with people I haven't seen for a long time. Also, being in the military makes it hard to keep friends for more than a couple years before you move to the next place. Now, it's easy to visit facebook and see what's going on with all of those people I've formed bonds with throughout my career.

Still, I'm far more interested in seeing people face to face than on the internet. Texting can never replace a voice. Paying a grand plus $200/month for a cell-phone that can wipe my ass while I play a video game simulateously as I use it to social network, tweet 3 friends, record a video, and run an app to figure out how many calories I just burned taking a **** is just not going to be me. Going to parties just to get some pictures I can post online is also never going to be me no matter how much that may mean I'm being left behind. Fads do not have to be accepted, in my opinion. Do what makes you happiest and don't worry about being left behind.

Chris

 

[1989GtFoxBody]

sterotype.... But sadly its the truth. Nobody knows anything automotive wise at my school (im a freshman in highschool). Then the guys that think they do talk about how cool it would be to have a "twin turbo manual honda civic" then sit there and make noises and act like their shifting all fast in the furious style. One kid was bragging about how his brother got his civic up to 110 like it was some sort of record. I just laugh. I also have a picture on my binder of my car and they have argued with me that its not a mustang but some foreign sub compact that they all think is ugly, then when I brought in my MM&FF magazine to read in study hall they were again saying it was a ****ty subcompact, and when the one kid "gets his tune done" hes waiting for me, and "were gonna race" . Its pretty sad to me. Anyway /end rant.

 

[Crazynate]

sterotype.... But sadly its the truth. Nobody knows anything automotive wise at my school (im a freshman in highschool). Then the guys that think they do talk about how cool it would be to have a "twin turbo manual honda civic" then sit there and make noises and act like their shifting all fast in the furious style. One kid was bragging about how his brother got his civic up to 110 like it was some sort of record. I just laugh. I also have a picture on my binder of my car and they have argued with me that its not a mustang but some foreign sub compact that they all think is ugly, then when I brought in my MM&FF magazine to read in study hall they were again saying it was a ****ty subcompact, and when the one kid "gets his tune done" hes waiting for me, and "were gonna race" . Its pretty sad to me. Anyway /end rant.

You should race him...but make a video of the crying and excuses afterward for us to watch

 

[FryLoch]

I'm 22 and restoring a 68 Mustang, which is very rare in todays culture, but the culture of cars being the main popular thing is gone. The most popular thing about the car culture now is Hellaflush which is really removed from the mainstream.

Nothing wrong with the youth today it's just that fads and trends change... Only what's new matters unless it's a Datsun or a Toyota...
Which I can say I love the new trends such as dub step, hellaflush even the import revolution but still love my 60's Music, cars, and culture. Best of both worlds? I think so...

I also drive a Supercharged Cobalt daily and have loved it since the day I bought it. Surprised the hell out of a lot of Camaros and Mustangs along the way too.

 

[Noobz347]

Ok soooooo.... Ummmmm.... Hmmmmm.... Yeah.....



Exactly which of these douche canoes would have even the slightest idea of to even change their own oil, much less anything else?


View attachment 173935

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

all the ***s now, drive 350/370z's/g35/7's, with that ****ty sounding exhaust. and they brag on and on because one of thier buddies made 380whp with a pos vortech bolt on. Its still slow, and my 4 banger still makes 200 more hp and gets better mpg. i hate the "hella flush" bull****. We were out street racing the other day (i know plz yell at me) and my buddy in a ~400whp talon asked some *** ass honda guys to run, and they start ragging on him how his paint is original and faded. he asks again if they would like to run and they say, "man i just got new rims". Really? wtf. I am a hardcore car guy, I like to build **** and race it, not build **** and let it sit in the parking lot and tell people about my stupid ass wheels.

Another thing, most of these new and upcomers, they see something weird on your car, like a part you HAD to make to make your new intake manifold work or something, and they say, well I read on the forums that that wouldnt work. That **** drives me crazy! Grow some nuts and do some ****ing modding on your ****, and stop taking advice from some retard that "read" about ****.

/end rant.... Anybody want a beer? Ill start the fire!

 

[1989GtFoxBody]

You should race him...but make a video of the crying and excuses afterward for us to watch

To bad his car is nonexistent. I also had a kid that's never driven in his life say dirt track racing (what I do) takes no skill, then went on about how I should try and play football. A(Ive had multiple coaches try to get me to play) and B(if what I do takes no skill, then why does every kid play football, yet I am one of the only 14 year olds Ive seen that drives a racecar?) I just don't understand peoples mentality.

 

[mob]

Yeah, teenagers and youth in general are going to change, but what's really important? Do we really need to adapt? My grandmother didn't like the internet and ended up canceling her service. She seems pretty happy socializing with the other ladies that go golfing a few times a week.

My mom and I both socialize on facebook, and I love being able to keep up with people I haven't seen for a long time. Also, being in the military makes it hard to keep friends for more than a couple years before you move to the next place. Now, it's easy to visit facebook and see what's going on with all of those people I've formed bonds with throughout my career.

Still, I'm far more interested in seeing people face to face than on the internet. Texting can never replace a voice. Paying a grand plus $200/month for a cell-phone that can wipe my ass while I play a video game simulateously as I use it to social network, tweet 3 friends, record a video, and run an app to figure out how many calories I just burned taking a **** is just not going to be me. Going to parties just to get some pictures I can post online is also never going to be me no matter how much that may mean I'm being left behind. Fads do not have to be accepted, in my opinion. Do what makes you happiest and don't worry about being left behind.

Chris

Yea I agree, the whole facebook and texting thing is non-sense. But the way I see it, and maybe its just cause I am young, is there is always something to learn. I understand if people are old, and settled down, finished with their careers and want to just live their life in peace. But I'm young, I want to come up in the world, and I realize that I need to keep up with the times and keep learning everything I can. The second I stop trying to adapt to the real world is the second I give up. Whether we like it or not the next generation are the people who are going to come up with the cure for cancer, the ones who are going to discover new planets and flying cars. Most people live perfectly fine being left behind, not adapting to new technology, but I for one will look to the future.

 

[90lxcoupe]

I think the start to the problem is you went to sonic on just an average weekenight. Its a chain restaurant thats a couple notches above McD's or Burger King. Go to a cruise night, you will see people of all ages enjoying cars that will always be cool. Its also not like 20 or 30 years ago when gas was under a buck a gallon and people didnt care if they got 20mpg. Times are changing.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I kinda knew the answer to my question before I posted the thread. I wasn't really "concerned" w/ the quality of the moral fiber of most of America's youth, I was amazed that they didn't know what a 57 chevy was.

Cars were a form of social networking when I was a kid. They were the "freedom" that every teenager lusted after so they could get out and see and be seen. So naturally, there was people like me in my 69 mach 1 being a car guy, and the rest of my non-car guy friends driving their Volkswagens and GMC P/U's and what-evers just to get the same "freedom" that I had.

Those friends wouldn't have known a 57 chevy if it pulled into a lot back then either. So I guess I shouldn't have even checked up when some teenagers (pseudo car-guys or not) didn't know 40 years later.

Electronic media is the substitute for a car w/ regard to getting to a social gathering. As many texts as my 18 yr old goes through in a day insures that he never misses a single ass wipe of one of his friends. Taking his car away when he screwed up left him pretty much un-bothered. (as long as he still had his phone, computer, or X-box)

I was also lamenting at the disappearance of the friday night car show that came at the drive-ins when I lived in Denver. Granted, the really cool cars were owned by the guys in their late 20's-40's, but the point is that it didn't take an orchestrated event to be able to see a few cool cars on any given night at a simple drive-in.

 

[Stever89]

To add to the posts above, and in a somewhat reluctant defense of kids today, time happened. I'm not a kid anymore, not even in my 30s anymore. I knew my cars from the mid-50s on up, but my dad had to tell me what year of that '39 Plymouth. I just wasn't into anything older than the 50s.

As far as Sonic, yeah, it's usually cars pulling in and ordering with the engines and AC running, high beams right in my face. We do have a local Mustang Club or something that meets there once a month. I haven't approached the guys, I'm way too old for them. I do hear 'em racing afterwards on the local highway up from my place

 

[FastDriver]

My pop took me and my mother to Sonic in a 100% original '68 Mustang Fastback 289 (I think). The car was beautiful and as mint as I'd ever seen, and we really enjoyed the experience. We sat in the car and talked for a while, and when the server brought out the tray dad rolled down the window. The tray was supposed to clip onto the window. It was made for new vehicles that only have glass on the windows. The old mustangs had a thick metal rim on the window that rolled up and down with it. The server rotated the tray to far trying to clip the tray onto the window and ended up putting a red slushi and some burgers and fries all over my dad's lap and on the floor of the car. I'm pretty sure it didn't end up staining the carpet, but I have to give my dad credit, because even though at 6'4", 240lbs he could be a really intimidating person when he was angry, he really held back his anger better than I probably would if that happened to me in either of my cars today. Just thought I'd share my Sonic story.

 

[Stever89]

...The server rotated the tray to far trying to clip the tray onto the window and ended up putting a red slushi and some burgers and fries all over my dad's lap and on the floor of the car. story.

I stabbed my Sonic straw too hard through the plastic lid once, went right through the bottom and all over my lap and into the seat.