Throughout time, historians have debated the cause or causes of the change in cultural and social behavior of human beings. The emergence of the youth counter-culture in the 1950’s is no exception. Jody Pennington and J. Ronald Oakley examine the change in the social behavior of the post World War II generation and discuss whether Rock and Roll was the cause of the dramatic behavioral changes that led teenagers astray from the conservative values of the older generation. While both Pennington and Oakley agree on some of the factors that that led to the sweeping changes in teenage behavior during this time, they differ on the conclusion of whether Rock and Roll was the culprit and whether teenage morals and values truly shifted from their conservative upbringing during this time. Pennington’s essay offers a more unbiased, balanced, substantive and consistent assessment that supports the conclusion that Rock and Roll was indeed the accelerant that ignited 1950s youth and encouraged them to adopt Rock and Roll’s values of rebellion, provocative sexual expression and racial-mixing. …show more content…
They both suggest the new affluence and prosperity of this generation had a big influence on their change in behavior as well as their access to radio, television and movies which introduced them to new forms of both black and white music and big screen bad boys like James Dean. A lot of young people had access to cars which allowed them more mobility to travel from suburbs to cities and although segregation still existed there was more interaction between the races. Finally, they both agree that Rock and Roll had a role in the change of social behavior of these teenagers although they disagree on whether it changed the basic morals and values of this