Times have certainly changed dramatically in the past two decades. From the clothes worn to the attitude of fellow teenagers, ask anyone who was a teen in the 90s; times have definitely changed.

Most parents of teens now were lucky to even have a phone when they started college. Today, most people know  4th and 5th graders that get iPhone 5’s for their birthdays. Here are a few examples of how times have changed:

1. Technology –  The 90s was a time of face-to-face interaction. There were few cellphones communication between anyone, and even those weren’t equipped for texting. Instead, teens got together during the summertime and the entire neighborhood of kids/teens would play outdoor games like “manhunt” or “ghost in the graveyard.” They went to the mall, the movies, and even arcades. There were no Wiis, Xboxs or even PlayStations until ’98. Though these popular game consoles weren’t around, there was Nintendo that started in 1975.  CD-ROM games, although, were really popular. Kids played games like Math Blaster in elementary school on a giant MAC. Internet in homes didn’t become popular until 1998. You could do things like get an AOL screen name, which was used for instant messaging but most had dial-up connection. This meant you had to use a phone line and wait forever for it to connect and you couldn’t talk on the phone while online. When people who called your home phone, they would get a busy signal.

2. Media – By the end of the 90s, digital music had started to become extremely popular. A lot of people used illegal downloading programs like Napster or Kazaa. There weren’t any social networking sites during the 90s, but people did use AOL chat rooms and and there screen names to instant message directly. Growing up, one would possibly see The Secret Life of Alex Mac, Ghost Writer, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Goosebumps, Clarissa Explains It All, Full House, Punky Brewster, 7th Heaven, Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin and many other shows on TV.

 3. Rules – In today’s society, people are more likely to get sued for minor disputes, and kids of all ages are being arrested for what we see has misdemeanors rather than crimes. In the 90s, it was typically for teenagers to prank call or play ding-dong ditch. Today, there is the ability track phone numbers and people are more likely to call the police for such trivial events. Schools around the nation have also cracked down on dress codes and social rules, such as bullying.

 4. Slang – Language evolves with every passing decade. Here are some popular words/phrases from the 90s.

• Show me the money!
• Talk to the hand! (’cause the face ain’t listenin’..)
• Schwing!
• As if
• Yadda, yadda, yadda…
• Going postal
• “.. so is your FACE!”

As humans evolve, so does our technology, way of communication, society’s rules, and language. Looking back at the 90s, it is evident to see in our present lives how different everything really is.