America's Crises; The Young Americans

Item Information

Title:
America's Crises; The Young Americans
Description:
The documentary takes its camera to the colleges, high schools, beach areas, and resort towns where a strong cross-section of America's young people is likely to be found. By means of narration, film segments, and on-the-spot interviews with young Americans and knowledgeable experts, the program examines the youth of the nation -- who they are, what they want, where they fit in, how they affect society, what they believe in, and why. It explores the many facets of their behavior -- the "youth culture," a belligerently non-adult sub-culture with its own values, styles and behavior; the "sex revolution," a frank questioning of traditional moral views on sex and a confused struggle to find a new morality; and the "sense of powerlessness," stemming from a belief that young people cannot do much to affect society or to "buck the system." The Young Americans also focuses on the small minority of young people who have attempted to define themselves and their beliefs. Included in its ranks are the Peace Corp volunteers, the college students who are ricking personal danger in doing civil rights work in Mississippi, and the young people who are engaging in political activities. Another group, the "protest" or "beatnik" group as they are familiarly called, believing themselves to be incapable of changing society from within, have withdrawn from what they term the "rot" of modern American society. Still another group of youngsters from broken homes, the economically poor, the school drop-out and the Negro are not in protest against society because they feel like they were never actually an integral part of it. The Young Americans looks at all these groups and talks to some of their members. It points up the efforts being made to help those who need help, and to encourage those who show signs of interest and concern. However, what is emphasized throughout the hour-long documentary is that most young people of this country remain uncommitted -- convinced that they can do little to affect anything but their personals lives. Many top sociologists and psychologists who have studied American youth say that never before have of our young people felt so confused - confused about what to believe in - about what society wants them to do and to be. To them the world and its problems lock impossibly complex and bewildering. And so they retreat into dreams of private things: financial security - a home in the suburbs - a /'bear and a ballgame.' This is a troubling fact in a society that is counting on these same young Americans to solve the enormous problems of life in the twentieth century. It is even more troubling because no challenge has yet been found that would seem to inspire most young Americans to see beyond themselves to a world which desperately needs them..." (From The Young Americans). The first program in the new America's Crises series presents a report on The Young Americans- the young people of our country and the way they feel about themselves and the world in which they live. The documentary takes its camera to the colleges, high schools, beach areas, and resort towns where a strong cross-section of America's young people is likely to be found. By means of narration, film segments, and on-the-spot interviews with young Americans and knowledgeable experts, the program examines the youth of the nation -- who they are, what they want, where they fit in, how they affect society, what they believe in, and why. It explores the many facets of their behavior -- the "youth culture," a belligerently non-adult sub-culture with its own values, styles and behavior; the "sex revolution," a frank questioning of traditional moral views on sex and a confused struggle to find a new morality; and the "sense of powerlessness," stemming from a belief that young people cannot do much to affect society or to "buck the system." The Young Americans also focuses on the small minority of young people who have attempted to define themselves and their beliefs. Included in its ranks are the Peace Corp volunteers, the college students who are ricking personal danger in doing civil rights work in Mississippi, and the young people who are engaging in political activities. Another group, the "protest" or "beatnik" group as they are familiarly called, believing themselves to be incapable of changing society from within, have withdrawn from what they term the "rot" of modern American society. Still another group of youngsters from broken homes, the economically poor, the school drop-out and the Negro are not in protest against society because they feel like they were never actually an integral part of it. The Young Americans looks at all these groups and talks to some of their members. It points up the efforts being made to help those who need help, and to encourage those who show signs of interest and concern. However, what is emphasized throughout the hour-long documentary is that most young people of this country remain uncommitted -- convinced that they can do little to affect anything but their personals lives. America's Crises: The Young Americans is a 1964 production of National Educational Television. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) America's Crises is a documentary series exploring sociological topics such as parenting, education, religion, public health, and poverty in American culture and the experiences of different people in American society. The series consists of 19 hour-long episodes.
Production company:
National Educational Television and Radio Center
Consultant:
Keniston, Kenneth
Creator:
Wolfers, Louis
Editor:
Bywaters, Thomas
Creator:
Bywaters, Thomas
Producer:
Page, George
Narrator:
Page, George
Sound designer:
Morton, Wilford J.
Author:
Page, George
Date:
October 18, 1964
Format:
Film/Video
Genre:
Documentary
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
Series:
WGBH > America's Crises
Subjects:
Social Issues
Extent:
00:59:03
Link to Item:
https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-75-19s1rq8q
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Notes:
Episode Number: 1