MEMBER BLOGS
CULTURE SHIFT: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD? (John Shadowens)
When I teach on the Developmental Assets I spend a lot of time talking about changes in our lifestyles over the last two generations. I don't know if anyone else has coined this phrase or not but I call it "Culture Shift". To understand culture shift we need to start with some basic fundamentals that most of us readily acknowledge. First, these Developmental Assets aren't rocket science. Many people look at that list and say "Well sure, kids need boundaries and role models. Of course honesty, integrity and self-esteem are important. Where's the big ground-breaking idea here?" The earth shaking thing is that that most of these assets are declining. Why? Because of the second fundamental truth --the culture changed. Slowly, incrementally, our community began to look a lot different and it was so gradual many of us missed it.
The culprits of this change are many. There are some sociologists and cultural anthropologists who point to a single invention that changed culture more than anything. Wanna take a guess? Television? Computers? Telephone? Nope. Give up? It's air-conditioning. Surprised? Go back fifty to sixty years. What did the neighborhood look like? Think about architecture. What was the prominent feature on most every house built before 1965? The front porch! It was a hub of activity. A place for mom to stand and yell for the kids to come in. A place to share a pitcher of lemonade with any visitor who came by. It was evening in the summer, the house was almost unbearable after a warm humid day and the preperation of a hot meal. So what was a family to do? They headed outside. The kids were off playing and the parents sat outside in the shade. I clearly remember my grandparents house that didn't have central air even into the early 1980's. They knew everyone on the block and talked with them daily.
Then air conditioning came along and we gratefully left the sticky, humid air ripe with biting insects and headed inside. When we went inside we closed the door, shut the windows and pulled the blinds down. Within one generation we grew apart from the very neighborhoods we used to be intwined with. Now we have back decks and privacy fences. We wall ourselves off so that our neighbors can't see us and we don't have to deal with noise and uncomfortable small talk with people we no longer know that well.
What does that have to do with Developmental Assets you may ask? Everything! is my answer. When I was a kid my neighbors knew me and they knew my parents. If I was doing something stupid or dangerous at the end of the block, my parents aready had a phone call or two before I could pedal my bike home. They looked out for me. They ratted me out when I hosted a party while my parents were out of town. A neighbor saved me from a pummeling from a bully one time. And one of my neighbors gave my first real paying job when I was fourteen (a hundred bucks a week!). When we puposefully or inadvertantly wall our kids off from their neighbors we are isolating them and contributing to the deterioration of our community. I'll guarantee you there are neighbors who are feeling alone and forgotten. There are kids who could benefit from the wisdom of an older caring neighbor.
So I challenge you to get outside more and reconnect with your neighbors and the kids who live close to you. Host a block party. Invite the neighbor kids over to play basketball in the driveway. Join another couple for a walk around the neighborhood. Take cookies and brownies to new people moving in down the street. When you need a babysitter, try hiring the girl next door. Stop and chat with the elderly person whose kids no longer come to visit. Engage your kids in helping neighbors shovel snow, rake leaves, and clean gutters. Start a neighborhood crime watch or recycling program. Do what you can to make your immediate neighborhood a healthier community for asset growth.