The Counter Culture Revolution

1. The Counter Culture Revolution The Swinging Sixties

2. REVOLUTION Discuss the following ideas with the people next to you. Write the answers into a blank document. • What is a revolution? • Why do groups of people usually want one? • How do they go about it? • Are they always successful? Why/ why not? • Can you think of any major revolutions in world history? New Zealand’s history? In your own life?

3. Google: “Uprising” by Muse. • The song you are listening to is called “Uprising” of the album “The Resistance” by Muse. • Listen to the lyrics and think about how this could relate to what you’re studying at the moment…

4. The Counter Culture Revolution • A term used to describe when a group of people disagree with the mainstream rules and values of society and seek to challenge the norm. • It is most commonly used to refer to the ‘baby boom’ teenagers of the 1960’s who disagreed with the way things were being done and wanted to bring about change. • Summarise the information above to write your own, brief definition of Counter culture revolution.

5. Recap: The Baby Boom • “Baby boomers” is a term that is used to refer to children that were born after WWII. • When millions of men returned home from WWII, there was a flurry of pregnancies. • Millions of children were born world wide during the baby boom, and it is this generation that were influencing society during the 1960s. • Draw a quick sketch with the title ‘Baby boom generation’ to describe how this large and influential group came to be. You can do this paint and then save it into your document.

6. Change • Why did so many people (and youth) in the 1960’s demand change? Answer this question in your own words in your document. • The teenagers of the 1960s had been children during the 1950s when things were very different. • Many children grew up in a home where their fathers had served in the war and were used to a more ‘military’ way of life. Obedience as expected. Parents simply made the rules for the family and expected the children to follow them. • During the 1960’s however, these expectations were turned on their head. Large numbers of teenagers began to reject their parents values. • ‘Doing your own thing’ became more important than following rules. Enjoying the present was now the focus, and this generation were not interested in the future.

7. A changing way of life… • More and more young people in the late teens began to go flatting in New Zealand. This meant they were far more influenced by their peer groups than their families. • The media was also becoming an important factor. Prior to the 1960s in NZ, television had not been mainstream. The first official television transmission commenced in 1960 and lasted for two and a half hours each night. • By the mid 1960s, people could only watch TV between 5-11pm when there was a broadcast. TV made New Zealanders incredibly aware of what was happening in the world around them.

8. Outside influences • Traditionally NZ was isolated from many of the world’s trends and events. New Zealanders were able to watch President Kennedy being shot, the Vietnam War and the moon landings in their own homes. It also meant that young people could see what other young people were doing all around the world. • NZ was particularly influenced by teenagers in the United States, who inspired many young New Zealanders to protest the Vietnam War, listen to rock ‘n’ roll music and support civil rights and feminist movements. • Socially, NZ had never before been influenced so strongly by outside factors. We had traditionally remained small, isolated and independent. During the 1960s there was a real sense that for good or bad NZ was changing.

9. Tasks… • Keeping in mind the information you have just read as a class… • Describe whether you think today’s society is more akin (like) the 1950’s or 1960’s and explain why. • The media had a tremendous impact on young people in the 1960’s. Evaluate in a paragraph how youth were influenced by other countries and ideas through technology and the media. • Analyse how this compares to the way you in modern day society might be affected by the media. Try and think of some examples.