I know that this clip and what it is showing is controversial. Some of my assubscribers who grew up in the 1950s see that time as paradise. They see America in decline since that time. Others see the 1950s as way worse than the present and point out some of its negatives – segregation and racial inequality, lack of inclusion for anybody who was "different." And so much more.

This clip is taken from six hour television series that my team and I made in 1990 called Making Sense of the Sixties. It tried to look at 60s social movements more than political movements and attempted to understand what created the baby boomer “60s generation,” a rebellious generation for sure. Many today feel that this rebellion went too far and I am in agreement with that. Looking at the politics of the time was not what my series was about in my series also primarily looked at middle-class suburban white families as there had been a previous series on television titled Eyes On The Prize, which looked at the black experience in America during those years.

But when my team and I tried to present what the 1950s were like especially for white suburban teenagers, a time when most baby boomers were growing up, we had difficulty finding evidence of social rules which were commonly known by young people but not written down anywhere.

We resorted to presenting educational films some of which are shown in this clip because they presented those rules in 16mm films shown in classrooms around the country.

These rules were known by all and broken by many baby boomers. Looked at from today's perspective, at least in my mind, many 1950s teenagers went too far. That the 60s went too far. Maybe teenagers always do. But in order to decide what you think if you did not live through that time, this sequence attempts to give a sense of how restrictive those rules were and how parents, school leaders, church leaders and others, were stating these rules, holding their kids to feet to the fire, when teens knew that most of their parents, church leaders, political leaders, etc. were not living up to the very rules they were preaching.

Obey authority. Control your emotions. Fit in with the group. And don't even think about having sex. Those are just a few of the unwritten social rules that came from the 1950s. There were rules about rock 'n' roll, rules about comic books, rules about wearing Levi jeans, and so much more.

The word “normal” was used frequently and I found when I was doing my television series that virtually every person who I interviewed, including people who had lived through the 1950s and 60s and attempted to live by the rules – did not feel that they were "normal". Everyone felt someone else was normal and not them.

I am interested to hear comments and I know that there will be many saying that the 60s rebels went too far. But to imagine that teens would've accepted these rules even though the rules were even though the rules were not being followed through by parents and others in authority, is to be naïve about teenagers then and now.

Join my channel and get access to my perks:
   / @davidhoffmanfilmmaker