Clued up

do you grow up to fast now or did you then?

People went to work at the age of 14, however they believed in old tales and didn't have the media influencing them to adopt a grown up attitude. In effect they were more naive. The youth generation of now have all the media distractions, so it's harder to focus on some of the simple social encounters.

Through some research with questionnaires we hope to find which generation was made to grow up the fastest, and in what way.

FINDINGS TO 31ST DECEMBER 2008.
The initial thought was to get the generation groups together for a session to discuss the questions and findings. A group of 6 young people from the Drop Inn designed a questionaire and took it to a group of elderly people who we were working with. The session was so successful that it expanded into 4 sessions due to mutual enthusiasm.
Working Life: Women did not generally work as they stayed at home to raise the children, there were no automatic washing machines, hoovers, microwaves and other time saving devices so it really was a full time job. A meal prepared from fresh ingredients was ready for when the man of the house got home from work. During the war years the men were away fighting in the war so the women went out to work doing the mens jobs, after the war they returned into the house and the men returned to the jobs outside the home. Lots of stories were told by the elderly people about their experiences during the war years, one ledy was a 'clippie' (bus conductor) and during the blackout had to guide the bus on foot through the narrow unlit roads by walking in front of the bus. The young people showed genuine interest in the stories and found it hard to imagine life without modern electrical devices and flushing toilets (this was a story on its own!!)
Both generations agreed that young people had to grow up and take responsibilities at a far younger age than todays youth regarding home, family and work, but that todays young people grow up faster regarding social acticities. The did agree that communities and families were closer in bygone years which made areas feel safer. They did discuss the pressure of the media and 100% agreed that the influence and pressure to conform is far greater now than in the past.
This is only the beginning and a small part of the research and project on 'Clued Up', it will continue as a theme through other groups and topics.

Story comparison

Comparing old stories of youth times with new ages youth culture and stories.

The Linking Lives Translator

The idea is to make a translation book. This book will translate English to old Derbyshire or languages the Older generations use, and also translate English to youth slang. For example "safe" is "how are you," or "alreet me duck"