Big Hair and Ripped Jeans

One of the standards in FACS (Family and Consumer Science) is the changing roles of adolescents.  When we study this unit, I focus on the 1950s (when most of their grandparents were teenagers), the 1980s (when most of their parents were teenagers) and now.  I show clips of Leave It to Beaver, Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, The Cosby Show, etc. and we discuss the changing generations and how it affected the lives of teenagers.  They learn several facts that surprise them (the low divorce rate in the 1950s at 14%) and some they already knew (poodle skirts were popular.)

Today in class, everyone was excited to learn that we were going to watch the original video from Bon Jovi for "Living on a Prayer."  Thanks to Guitar Hero and the longevity of the band, almost all of my students had heard the song before.  Many were able to sing along!  In the opening scene the band walks out in a white light with a shadow in which all you can see is the hair.  This always brings some type of comment that starts with "Look at the Big Hair!"  Even though I have had heard this many times, it always makes me laugh.  Hair was big in the 80s and we all thought we looked great with it!!  (Someone today also said - "Hey, one of my friend's dad still dresses that way!")  Anyway, I tell my students "The perm, the hair spray, the comb - it was time consuming, but, wow, didn't we look awesome!" OK, this in turn makes them laugh and we discuss current trends and brainstorm what their children and grandchildren will one day think is "weird!"

However, instead of big hair, my 8th graders spent a lot of time today talking about the tight, ripped jeans that Bon Jovi was wearing.  I hadn't remembered that trend as much as I had the hair.  They noticed immediately because students aren't allowed to wear ripped jeans in our school system or in many others neighboring our community.  As they discussed this fact, reality hit me.  We were the generation that was allowed to wear jeans with holes in them (and even bought them that way), but our children cannot wear them.  When I told them of this oxymoron, they cried out in protest.  They might have a point.  I wonder if we all forgot what "a cool statement" ripped jeans were when were teenagers.  Or maybe the dress code rules makers are the ones whose parents never let them wear jeans with holes in them. They are secretly getting their revenge on those of us who were allowed to rip our pants and show off our big hair.  Either way it brought for lively debate and a stroll down memory lane for me.