Youth

Throughout the 1950's Britain was still struggling to get back on it's feet after the war. New homes were being built as well as hospitals and schools. Rationing was still in place, as was conscription. There were people of teenage age but they did not act how teenagers would act. They dressed like their parents, watched the same TV channel and listened to the same shows. Change came in the mid 1950's, the economy began to recover and people had more spare money. Wages were higher so the father could support the family. Teenagers with jobs could spend their wages on themselves, and more money plus more time meant life was about to change for teenagers. 

Enter the teenager

You could tell a teenager by:

• Clothes - they had a different style to their parents
• Music - skiffle music became very popular. Liverpool played an important role as sailors went over to New York and brought back new music and clothes. 
• Films - American films were influential, James Dean became a star for the film 'Rebel without a Cause'
• Gangs - some Teddy Boys aquired reputations for trouble. 

There were around 5 million teenagers in the 60's and they earned around 10% of the country's income. They had money to go out and spend on themselves, the fashion, film and music industry catered for the teenage market. 

Before the 60's radios were heavy, but now they were light and could be carried to where you were hanging out with their friends. It was the same with record players, abou half of the record players sold in the 1960's were sold to teenagers. 

The development of manmade fibres made clothes cheap enough to afford. Even if you could not afford the clothes, you could buy the materials to make the clothes.

Public transport improved in cities but many teenagers could afford to buy motorbikes. 

In August 1963 a new programme for teenagers called Ready, Steady Go aired. All the biggest bands played and the set changed each week. It was presented by a teenager too. 

They worshipped their idols- Music idols in particular encouraged the young to find out for themselves rather than accept what they were told.

They became more daring and expressed themselves- Teenagers now adopted trend setting behaviour, whereas before the trends had been set. 

Subcultures emerged - Youth cultures like the mods and the rockers became more visible. Later in the 60's, other sub cultures like hippies and the skinheads also began to emerge.

There were more public protests - Teenagers became more willing to challenge decision makers, this often resulted in violence.

There was more violent behaviour - There were youth groups such as the teddy boys.

The best development of the 1960's youth culture was the musical talent. 

Before the 1960's. music had been played by big bands and was aimed towards families listening at home. This changed to small groups of men and women singing their own songs. 

Bands such as the Beatles made their reputation by playing to the teenage audiences, other important bands were The Kinks and The Who. 

Some press liked this movement however others frowned upon it, making it more appealing to teens. 

The music industry could make a huge amount of money, TV broadcasters realised this and produced shows such as Ready, Steady Go! and Top of the Pops. 

The music boom went hand in hand with the radios, the BBC paid little attention to youth music, so during the 1960's, most teens listened to Radio Carolina which was broadcasted from the North Sea. When it shut down, the BBC filled the gap by launching Radio One. 

The more outrageous the music got, the more outrageous that the fashion got in the 1960's as pop stars tried to out do each other.

Teenagers spent loads of money trying to buy the latest fashion.

Designers such as Mary Quant became famous for her informal designs, such as the mini skirt which she reproduced in a number of styles and colours. She set up a shop on Kings Road in London and within a few years, it became the capital of Youth fashion for London, and the rest of the world. 

Mary Quant also used young teenage models such as Twiggy who soon became household names. 

Her designs could only really be bought by those with money, but her designs were quickly copied and avaliable in cheaper shops on Carnaby Street. 

All the designs were designed to be young and 'with it' the older people didn't understand the styles, making it more appealing to teenagers.

Teenagers had always felt different from their parents but in the 1960's teenagers had money and confidence to express their desire to be different and rebel. 

Authoritiarian figures such as the upper class and politicians were mocked in programmes such as 'That was the week that was' or in magazines such as 'Private Eye'. 

John Lennon got in to trouble when he said that the Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus'. What he had really meant was that music meant more to teenagers than perhaps traditional institutions such as the Church did. 

Films such as West Side Story made fun of the police, and gang loyalty was at the heart of the film about a boy and girl who fall in love from different communities. 

One form of rebellion that worried parents was the teenage attitude to sex. The 1960's is widely seen as a period of 'sexual revolution'. 

Teenagers were bigger and healthier than before and as a result they became more sexually mature at an earlier age. 

There was more freedom to have sex and not worry so much about the consequences such as pregnancy or STI's thanks to the contraceptive pill and improving antibiotics. The media regularly followed celebrities so that it was easy to imagine that all teenagers were 'sex mad'. 

This however was far from the truht, the contraceptive pill was not avaliable until 1969 and only then to married women. Brooks Clincics would give the pill to unmarried women but there were only 4 of these in the country. 

Problems with Schools

In 1944, the Butler Act was passed, providing free education for all students until the age of 14. 

There were only 2 types of schools in the 1950's:

• Grammar Schools - you could go here if you passed the 11+. Most students went onto university and high paid jobs, many were also middle class students whose parents could afford to get them a tutor to pass the test.
• Secondary Modern Schools - most students left here at 14 and went onto low paid jobs. Hardly any students from here went onto university and the teachers tended to be less qualified and the facilities were not as good. 

This system caused lots of anger. 

The 1965 Solution

In response, a document was issued saying that grammar and secondary schools should be abolised, and all students educated in a comprehensive school giving everyone equal chances.

Problem with Universities

In 1939, only 50,000 people studied beyond school. In 1963, a newspaper asked 'Where are all the young men going?' saying that 'young talend has been wasted' 

The Solution- New Universities and Polytechnics

Both political parties wanted a new well-educated system. 

The conservatives built new universities in Southampton and Staffordshire, 11 more were built during the 1960's. 32 Polytechnics were built to encourage students to study technology and science. Art colleges popped up all over Britain, they tended to attract students from poorer backgrounds. 

Students could also get money from the government to pay for their tuition fees. This meant the number of students continuing education went from 200,000 to 390,000. 

New subjects emerged such as Psychology and Politics, this opened the teenagers eyes as they had never studied these ideas before. The education encouraged further reading and to challenge ideas. 

One way teenagers could express their views was to 'opt out' or to become a hippie. 

This movement originated in the US, especially San Fransisco and they believed in peace, love and were often associated with drugs such as cannabis. 

The Beatles produced music such as 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' and Pink Floyd wrote songs about drugs and being angry at their parents generation. 

Hippies talked of flower power and many of their views were reflected in the magazine Oz. 

This movement came to light in 1967 in the 'Summer of Love'. 50.000 Hippies gathered for 3 days of 'free love'. There was even a petition to legalise cannabis which The Beatles signed. 

However most hippies did not 'opt out' of society. Most returned to their full time jobs on a Monday after spending the weekend protesting. 

Many young people supported the 'Peace Movement' it was not a single organised movement but one whose origins lay back in the 1950's with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. 

By the early 1960's many students had joined this movement and began to become involved in protests. 

On many university campuses there were protests about old fashioned teaching methods. There was a demonstration when a lecturer from Zimbabwe was suspected of supported 'white rule'. It had to be said that most students were not interested in these demonstrations. 80% of Leeds students said they found politics boring. 

The most high profile demonstration came from influences such as Martin Luther King was held in Northern Ireland over the discrimination of Catholics for jobs and housing. 

The biggest uniting factor was the Vietnam War, young and old activists were inspired. They were opposed to anything USA, in 1968 there was a protest outside the US embassy. 

The police were in control of these protests, and they slowly died down showing students weren't really dedicated.