THE BOOMER, X, Y + Z GENERATIONS
DON'T KNOW THEIR FOLKSONGS

A recent nationwide survey found school music programs are allowing generations-old lullabies, and historical children's and folk songs to be ignored.

Marilyn Ward, did the research for her doctoral dissertation in music in the summer and early fall of 2002. Ward surveyed 4,000 music teachers nationwide from elementary to high school about how much they taught and how well their students knew by memory 100 well-known songs considered representative of the American heritage.

Children in the United States aren't singing the songs of their heritage, an omission that puts the nation in jeopardy of losing a longstanding and rich part of its identity. Learn where your own state ranks in comparison to the others.

Dr. Ward interviewed the elderly and used information from the study to determine, of those 100 songs, which were most frequently taught to children growing up in America between 50-100 years ago.This created a recommended song list (84 songs) above.

"The study found that, overall, the vast majority of young people could not sing patriotic, folk and children's songs, because teachers who teach them at all frequently don't go over the songs enough for students to learn them," she said.

"Most students could not be expected to sing from memory songs such as 'Home on the Range,' 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' or 'Bingo.'" Few students can even sing the national anthem, the study found.

• 75 percent of todays (2008) elementary school children have Xer parents.
• Generation X parents, are more likely to try to arrange their work around their family life.
• When they describe the time they spend as a family, its not enough for them just to be together physically.
• They want opportunities to connect with each other and build their family relationships.
• They place more emphasis on experiences that provide fun and learning for them and their kids and less on trying to create the best mini-me in town.
• Xer fathers have almost doubled the amount of time theyre spending with their children, at home and at play. Learning is less of a competitive sport.2005 X Tended Family: Attracting the Post-Boomer Audience By James Chung and Tara May published in Museum News November/December 2005

THE 2007 COLLEGE STUDENT TODAY

• 97% own a computer
• 94% own a cell phone
• 76% use Instant Messaging.
• 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
• 34% use websites as their primary source of news
• 28% own a blog and 44% read blogs
• 49% download music using peer-to-peer file sharing
• 75% of college students have a Facebook account [17]
• 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod.

"Most of the content on the network is contributed by the users of the Internet," he said, "so what we're seeing on the Net is a reflection of the society we live in." Vint Cerf

More Teens and 'Tweens Are Creating Content and Connecting Online for Educational Benefits [source]
August 14 2008 Offering Schools New Opportunities to Use Technology Reports New National School Boards Association Study:
A new study released today by the National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates LLC exploring the online behaviors of U.S. teens and *tweens shows that 96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz. Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education.
Nearly 60% of online students report discussing education-related topics such as college or college planning, learning outside of school, and careers. And 50% of online students say they talk specifically about schoolwork. [snip]
Students report they are engaging in highly creative activities on social networking internet sites including writing, art, and contributing to collaborative online projects whether or not these activities are related to schoolwork. [snip]
Today, students report that they are spending almost as much time using social networking services and Web sites as they spend watching television

"Do you have wi-fi?" In the future, schools that incorporate social networking tools in education can help engage kids and move them toward the center of the learning process.* [snip]
The report, *Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social and Educational Networking,* is based on three surveys: an online survey of nearly 1,300 9- to 17-year-olds, an online survey of more than 1,000 parents, and telephone interviews with 250 school districts leaders who make decisions on Internet policy.