A+Guide+to+Parenting+in+the+1920s

In terms of social change, perhaps there has not been a more influential decade than the 1920s. Think about it, new forms of transportation were readily available for the masses for the first time. A new consumer culture was created that involved buying on credit. New forms of entertainment - radio and film, were becoming wildly popular. Jazz music hit the scene. Likewise, many of the social norms were being challenged. "Flappers" sought to break away from Victorian ideals and wear "more revealing" clothing. Dating (rather than courtship) came onto the scene. Margaret Sanger advocated for the use of birth control increasing fears that sexual promiscuity would skyrocket. Evolution was being introduced into schools which challenged Christian fundamentalism which reigned across the Bible Belt. To be sure, there were many other changes (prohibition is introduced, the Red Scare begins, etc.), however I've just listed a few of them here.

I can only imagine what it would have been like to have been the parent of a teenager during the 1920s. Imagine growing up in, what you and I would consider, a very conservative era socially. Now, as you try to instill those same values and actions in your children (who very soon, will be adults), society is challenging many, if not all, of those fundamental beliefs that you were raised with. What are you going to do about this? Are you going to embrace these changes? Are you going to hold dear to your roots?

That's where you come into play... You are going to CREATE "A Guide to Parenting in the 1920s." Your goal is to create a guide that will help parents raise children who will be healthy, productive members of society.

There are a few assumptions that we are going to make with this project:

1. You are from a middle to upper-middle class background (even though the middle class is just starting to emerge at this point in time). 2. You are from a family that has been living in the United States for quite some time (i.e. you are not first or second generation immigrants). 3. You and your "spouse" both attended and completed high school. It is your expectation that your children do the same. (Higher education is an option, but not a requirement for this project.) 4. You and your family live in an urban area, although, you do not live in a ghetto, tenement, etc.

Here are the parameters and other questions you may have with this project:

You may work by yourself, with a partner, or in a group of three. (If there are four of you, you can create either two groups of two or one group of three and someone working on his or her own. For numbers greater than four, you do the math yourself!)
 * __Who are you working with?__**

You may present this to me in whatever format you feel would be most beneficial. You are NOT limited to technology that was available during the 1920s! You may create a book, a Keynote, a Toondoo, an iMovie, a podcast, or any other creative format that you would like. You may NOT simply write me an essay.
 * __Format__**


 * __Due Date__**
 * Friday, March 8th during class.**

1. You state the goal of your book (what do you want your kids to become) 2. You must identify at least ten different areas of change that occurred during the 1920s that are relatively unique to this decade. These changes may be from any of the "PERSIA" categories (political, economic, religious, social, industrial, artistic), but must be specific to this decade. (For example, the advent of jazz music is unique to the 1920s. The election of Herbert Hoover as president is not because presidents had been elected numerous times prior to this decade.) Please describe the area of change in detail and state how this is a change from the past (i.e. when the reader grew up). 3. For each of these areas of change, you must state what the prospective parents should do in response to this change. If this is an area that the reader should try to shelter his/her children from, you need to state so and how. If this is an area where you believe the parent needs to change his/her thinking on this issue, state that and how AND why the parent needs to adapt to the changing times. 4. As always, humor is appreciated. Poor attempts at humor (i.e. certain APUSH students from years past) will be looked at with disgust.
 * __What Your Presentation MUST Include:__**

Remember, this guide must be ATTRACTIVE and INTERESTING to the reader. (In this case, I am the reader. Do not crack any old jokes at my expense! I was not a prospective parent during the 1920s, for the record.)

This will be a 35 point project grade.

10 pts - Discussion of the changes that took place (points will be deducted for irrelevant changes or incomplete descriptions and analysis of the changes) 10 pts - Advice to the prospective parents (Is the advice realistic? Do you approach this from a 1920s perspective or are you approaching this from a 2011 perspective?) 10 pts - Creativity, attractiveness, maintains the interest of the reader, use of humor and wit 5 pts - Accuracy (free of grammatical errors, if this is done using some form of technology, everything "works")
 * __Scoring Breakdown__**

It is my sincere hope that in this project, we understand the level of change that was taking place during the 1920s in ALL aspects of society, but also, that we have a lot of fun exploring the issues in this way. If you have any questions, you know where to find me...