Youths and free speech
Youth in the 1960’s started a social revolution known as counterculture, by rejecting preconceived notions of social boundaries. Theses “flower children” backed many movements such as the availability of birth control, anti-war protests, and civil rights. Although, the movement as a whole was non-violent, they sometimes faced violence from those trying to stop them from employing their first amendment rights. At Kent State University in Ohio, where unarmed students protesting the War in Vietnam were met with the Ohio National Guard, which fired shots killing four and wounding nine others. This tragedy sparked nationwide school strikes of an estimated four million students in high schools and colleges. Young people began changing the way they dress, using drugs, and experimenting with their sexuality. These new interests are glorified in the music of the 60’s and 70’s through artists such as Jimi Hendrix and The Grateful Dead, among others that performed at the iconic Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York in 1969.
The youth of the 1960s were a new breed of American’s because they were the first generation to experience such wealth and massive new technology. They valued individualism, freedom, rights, peace, and were big proponents of the other civil rights movements occurring at the same time. The free speech movement that came out of the youth of America’s outspoken stance on many issues created a unique identity for children born in America in the second of the 20th century and beyond. The new social atmosphere in the United States after the 1960’s proves that youth should not be underestimated.
Written by: Kristen Cooper
The youth of the 1960s were a new breed of American’s because they were the first generation to experience such wealth and massive new technology. They valued individualism, freedom, rights, peace, and were big proponents of the other civil rights movements occurring at the same time. The free speech movement that came out of the youth of America’s outspoken stance on many issues created a unique identity for children born in America in the second of the 20th century and beyond. The new social atmosphere in the United States after the 1960’s proves that youth should not be underestimated.
Written by: Kristen Cooper