Were you born in the wrong decade?

[Roadgeekteen]

I was born in the right time, but somtimes I feel like I should be born from 1995- 1999.

[jakeroot]

As I went from elementary school into junior high (please don't call it "middle school")

My understanding is that middle schools and junior highs encompass different grade divisions. I'm not sure what the breakdown is for each specific term, but in one of those categories, ninth graders (freshmen) go to that school and not the high school, which is for the top three grades. The other doesn't contain ninth graders, and all four years go to high school.

I went to something called an "upper elementary," which was some sort of newfangled term used in the early 70s for a school encompassing sixth through eighth grades.

I thought middle school and junior high school were the same thing: 6th to 8th grade. I went to Cline Middle School (a public school) in the mid-'80s, which included 6th to 8th. Then I went to a Catholic school that had 1st to 8th, but they kept insisting middle school only included 7th to 8th. (That's not surprising, since I learned some coursework in public school in 6th grade that the Catholic high school taught again when I was a sophomore, since the parochial schools are so far behind.) I don't remember whether this school called it middle school or junior high.

In my area (Western Washington), the junior highs are 7-9, and the middle schools are 6-8. I went to a "junior high" but often refer to it as "middle school" when speaking retrospectively, since most districts around me used the term "middle school".

There are also some primary schools and intermediate schools. I'm not sure which grades these encompass, but I believe primary is K-3, and intermediate is 4-6. These districts seem to use junior highs (7-9). There is also at least one "secondary" school, but I can't remember where.

British Columbia uses primary/elementary, middle, and secondary (not "high school"). Fun fact: Seth Rogen and best-bud Evan Goldberg attended Point Grey Secondary (south of Vancouver).

[Otto Yamamoto]

As I went from elementary school into junior high (please don't call it "middle school")

My understanding is that middle schools and junior highs encompass different grade divisions. I'm not sure what the breakdown is for each specific term, but in one of those categories, ninth graders (freshmen) go to that school and not the high school, which is for the top three grades. The other doesn't contain ninth graders, and all four years go to high school.

I went to something called an "upper elementary," which was some sort of newfangled term used in the early 70s for a school encompassing sixth through eighth grades.

Middle schools are grades 6-8, Junior High grades 7-9

STV100-2

[Otto Yamamoto]

The only reason I would wish I were born in a different time was so I'd be closer in age with the Mrs. She's 15 years my junior.

STV100-2

[roadman]

As I went from elementary school into junior high (please don't call it "middle school")

My understanding is that middle schools and junior highs encompass different grade divisions. I'm not sure what the breakdown is for each specific term, but in one of those categories, ninth graders (freshmen) go to that school and not the high school, which is for the top three grades. The other doesn't contain ninth graders, and all four years go to high school.

I went to something called an "upper elementary," which was some sort of newfangled term used in the early 70s for a school encompassing sixth through eighth grades.

Middle schools are grades 6-8, Junior High grades 7-9

STV100-2

For me, elementary school was 1st to 6th grade, and junior high was only 7th and 8th grades.  High school started with 9th grade.

And I'm still trying to figure out how changing the grade limits and the designations (i.e. "middle school" instead of "junior high") has actually improved education for our children.

[jakeroot]

The only reason I would wish I were born in a different time was so I'd be closer in age with the Mrs. She's 15 years my junior.

What a player.

[Brandon]

As I went from elementary school into junior high (please don't call it "middle school")

My understanding is that middle schools and junior highs encompass different grade divisions. I'm not sure what the breakdown is for each specific term, but in one of those categories, ninth graders (freshmen) go to that school and not the high school, which is for the top three grades. The other doesn't contain ninth graders, and all four years go to high school.

I went to something called an "upper elementary," which was some sort of newfangled term used in the early 70s for a school encompassing sixth through eighth grades.

Middle schools are grades 6-8, Junior High grades 7-9

Differs by school district.  Ours are called "junior high", but have grades 6-8.  Others do the same, yet call them "middle school".  Still yet another has both a "middle school" for grades 5-6 and a "junior high" for grades 7-8.

[Otto Yamamoto]

The only reason I would wish I were born in a different time was so I'd be closer in age with the Mrs. She's 15 years my junior.

What a player.

Yeah,  I'm a smooth operator

STV100-2

[vdeane]

My district was primary K-2, elementary 3-5, middle 6-8, and high 9-12.

[1995hoo]

I'm glad I was a kid when I was (born in the early 1970s). Didn't have helicopter parents monitoring our every move and we were allowed to go all sorts of places on our own (including riding the subway by ourselves in New York). I'm also glad I grew up prior to smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, etc., because while kids have always found ways to be nasty to each other, my perception is that technology makes it that much more pervasive and easy to humiliate someone school-wide, whereas when I was a kid if you did something embarrassing or whatever the whole school didn't usually find out.

For us, elementary school was K—6, junior high (also called "intermediate") was 7—8, and high school was 9—12. I'm not sure whether they changed that when they rebranded junior high as "middle school"–I'd have to ask my mom since she taught eighth grade–but I do know high school is still 9—12 (other than two "secondary schools" that have been 7—12 since before I was of junior high age).  I believe in Fairfax County "middle school" had more to do with how they structure kids' schedules to have a particular "team" of teachers who collaborate than it did with which grades attend the school.

[formulanone]

...when I was a kid if you did something embarrassing or whatever the whole school didn't usually find out.

You could also wait until another kid did something stupid/heroic. I learned to wear faults like medals, that way you couldn't be made fun of (d/b/a Rubber U. R. Glue) for long, it could defuse hostility and get laughter moving in another direction.

We have the Middle School (grades 6-8) and Junior High (7-9) scenario in some area schools, but it depends on the school district. In other places I'd gone to school, the terms were used synonymous to one another, except in the titles of the schools.

[Ian]

Born in 1995, I'm a 90's baby through and through. The only time I ever really have the "I was born in the wrong decade" thoughts running through my head is when I think about seeing all of our country's interstates being built. I think it would've been cool to see their construction in person, and I would've loved to have document of all the now obsolete signage (button copy, '61 spec shields, cutouts, you name it). Seeing the Grateful Dead also would've been cool too...

With that being said, I'm pretty happy to be born in the time I was. It's very nice being a college student when Google exists!

[kkt]

Question for you older guys: Is it true that minimum wage in 1972 was the equivalent of $22/hr in today's money?

Yes.

And labor unions were much stronger then.

(sarcasm) What a coincidence! (/sarcasm)

[cjk374]

I was born in 1974...2 months before Nixon resigned. That makes me a child of the 80s & I love it! I got to use all methods of listening to music (vinyl, 8-tracks, cassette, CDs, and everything else). Like 1995hoo said above, I too am glad cell phones were not part of my growing up (my first one came along when I got married the first time).

Would I love to see my hometown pre-interstate? You bet! There were 6 filling stations on US 80 here in town. Only 1 remains.

[Duke87]

My understanding is that middle schools and junior highs encompass different grade divisions.

Differs by school district.  Ours are called "junior high", but have grades 6-8.  Others do the same, yet call them "middle school".  Still yet another has both a "middle school" for grades 5-6 and a "junior high" for grades 7-8.

Yeah every district is different. Where I went to school it was "middle school" - the official name of the school even contained those words. And it was grades 6-8.

I was aware from a fairly young age, thanks to the TV show Doug, of the existence of middle (or "junior high") schools in other places and/or times starting at grade 7, possibly being only grades 7-8.

Meanwhile I have a couple cousins who started middle school at grade 5. The district they grew up in was small enough that it only had one school in each tier, so to keep the population roughly balanced between the three buildings they had K-4 in elementary, 5-8 in middle, and 9-12 in high.

[Roadgeekteen]

Born in 1995, I'm a 90's baby through and through. The only time I ever really have the "I was born in the wrong decade" thoughts running through my head is when I think about seeing all of our country's interstates being built. I think it would've been cool to see their construction in person, and I would've loved to have document of all the now obsolete signage (button copy, '61 spec shields, cutouts, you name it). Seeing the Grateful Dead also would've been cool too...

With that being said, I'm pretty happy to be born in the time I was. It's very nice being a college student when Google exists!

You are a 2000s kid.

[jp the roadgeek]

Born in 1995, I'm a 90's baby through and through. The only time I ever really have the "I was born in the wrong decade" thoughts running through my head is when I think about seeing all of our country's interstates being built. I think it would've been cool to see their construction in person, and I would've loved to have document of all the now obsolete signage (button copy, '61 spec shields, cutouts, you name it). Seeing the Grateful Dead also would've been cool too...

With that being said, I'm pretty happy to be born in the time I was. It's very nice being a college student when Google exists!

You are a 2000s kid.

Born in 1975.  I saw The Grateful Dead 16 times between 1988 and 1995 (today is my 29th "Deadiversary"; 9/23/88 at MSG was my first show), and several solo project shows.  At least I got to see many of the bands that I enjoy live (Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Rush, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, CSN with and without Y), but I would've loved to have been born about 15 years earlier to enjoy the full experience, as well as to witness the Interstate Highway System being built.  Who knows, maybe I could've swayed a few politicians to have gotten the full I-291 built, CT 11 completed, CT 72 extended west to CT 8, and I-84 built to Providence.

[SectorZ]

Born in 1995, I'm a 90's baby through and through. The only time I ever really have the "I was born in the wrong decade" thoughts running through my head is when I think about seeing all of our country's interstates being built. I think it would've been cool to see their construction in person, and I would've loved to have document of all the now obsolete signage (button copy, '61 spec shields, cutouts, you name it). Seeing the Grateful Dead also would've been cool too...

With that being said, I'm pretty happy to be born in the time I was. It's very nice being a college student when Google exists!

Being born in 1978, I got to see a whole two stretches of I-93 built in the upper reaches of New Hampshire in the mid-80's. That's about all I got to see.

[Roadgeekteen]

Born in 1995, I'm a 90's baby through and through. The only time I ever really have the "I was born in the wrong decade" thoughts running through my head is when I think about seeing all of our country's interstates being built. I think it would've been cool to see their construction in person, and I would've loved to have document of all the now obsolete signage (button copy, '61 spec shields, cutouts, you name it). Seeing the Grateful Dead also would've been cool too...

With that being said, I'm pretty happy to be born in the time I was. It's very nice being a college student when Google exists!

You are a 2000s kid.

Born in 1975.  I saw The Grateful Dead 16 times between 1988 and 1995 (today is my 29th "Deadiversary"; 9/23/88 at MSG was my first show), and several solo project shows.  At least I got to see many of the bands that I enjoy live (Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Rush, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, CSN with and without Y), but I would've loved to have been born about 15 years earlier to enjoy the full experience, as well as to witness the Interstate Highway System being built.  Who knows, maybe I could've swayed a few politicians to have gotten the full I-291 built, CT 11 completed, CT 72 extended west to CT 8, and I-84 built to Providence.

I doubt a little kid would have any sway.

[US 81]

When I was younger, I thought it was cool to have been born at the dawn of the "space age." Back then I thought we would have more space stations, missions to Mars, etc.

If, in human history, we ever become space-faring as a society - well, that will be the decade I would wish to have been born at.

[Roadgeekteen]

When I was younger, I thought it was cool to have been born at the dawn of the "space age." Back then I thought we would have more space stations, missions to Mars, etc.

If, in human history, we ever become space-faring as a society - well, that will be the decade I would wish to have been born at.

Humans will go to mars by 2040.

[1995hoo]

....

For us, elementary school was K—6, junior high (also called "intermediate") was 7—8, and high school was 9—12. I'm not sure whether they changed that when they rebranded junior high as "middle school"–I'd have to ask my mom since she taught eighth grade–but I do know high school is still 9—12 (other than two "secondary schools" that have been 7—12 since before I was of junior high age).  I believe in Fairfax County "middle school" had more to do with how they structure kids' schedules to have a particular "team" of teachers who collaborate than it did with which grades attend the school.

I asked my mom about this last night when they were over here for dinner and she thought the whole "middle school" thing is mostly a branding exercise because it was the current naming fad some 20 years ago. She said the "team" model wound up not working as well as the county had hoped because kids' math abilities differ so much that it was impractical not to split up the kids into different math classes.

Apparently the new fad calls for the teachers to film themselves giving their lectures and for the kids to watch those as homework, then use class time to practice what they learned and ask questions and such–essentially, reversing what they would do as homework and what they would do in school. The theory is that watching a recorded video lets them rewind or rewatch things they missed or didn't understand. Seems kind of absurd to me. Most kids found ways not to  do homework before. Why would this be any different?

[hotdogPi]

When I was younger, I thought it was cool to have been born at the dawn of the "space age." Back then I thought we would have more space stations, missions to Mars, etc.

If, in human history, we ever become space-faring as a society - well, that will be the decade I would wish to have been born at.

Humans will go to mars by 2040.

Humans could go to Mars now if we wanted to, at least to visit (colonization is not ready yet). The reason why we aren't going is because there is no reason for humans to go there, as robots are more useful than humans there (no temperature/atmosphere problems, no emotions, and other reasons). It's the lack of demand, not the lack of technology.

Interestingly, if you are on the equator of Mars, the temperature will be a near-constant 70°F during the daytime. Unfortunately, it drops by several hundred degrees at night, and the lack of atmosphere is still a problem. (One day on Mars is almost equal to one day on Earth, to within 3%.)

[vdeane]

Apparently the new fad calls for the teachers to film themselves giving their lectures and for the kids to watch those as homework, then use class time to practice what they learned and ask questions and such–essentially, reversing what they would do as homework and what they would do in school. The theory is that watching a recorded video lets them rewind or rewatch things they missed or didn't understand. Seems kind of absurd to me. Most kids found ways not to  do homework before. Why would this be any different?

Well, it would be evident if someone showed up to class not knowing the material.  Not sure if it's right or not; on the one hand, I pay attention better to a lecture in person than through a video, but that way does have the virtue of making it so kids can get help if they have a question on the assignment.  With homework, if your parents don't have the answer and the teacher can't reply to your email in time, you're basically screwed.

Humans could go to Mars now if we wanted to, at least to visit (colonization is not ready yet).

Only if you want to die of radiation poisoning.  There's also the challenge of making a return trip.  Fuel is heavy.  Colonization will probably happen before a visit for that reason.

[hbelkins]

It's the lack of demand funding, not the lack of technology.

FIFY.