Donna Meeks: Improving The World

Over the past seventy years society has morphed and adjusted to the new advancements and alterations humans have made to improve the world. Donna Meeks has discussed changes, such as these, that she has experienced in her lifetime. These include how schools have changed to create an equal environment, the technological advancements from her childhood into adulthood, how the working world has adjusted women being a driving force in todays world and economy compared to in the past, how society has changed what is “normal” compared to in the past, and so on. Donna being born in 1946 has witnessed many of the successes and tragedies the world and has many insightful views to what she has experienced.
When asked the question “How has education changed
Girls then didn’t go out on the weekends normally. If they had a romantic interest their “dates” were strictly monitored. They spent most of their time with their family, and only saw other friends at school. Sometimes they would go to town to go shopping, but it had to be a special occasion. You went to church every Sunday and Wednesday with the exception of being severely ill. What your parents said was law, no arguing or back talking. What was also considered normal then was for women to be married by 18 or 19 years old. Today when women are married that young its questioned and judged. Donna was married to my grandfather, David Meeks, in 1965 at age of 19 years old. They were one of the five couples to be married at that age from their graduating class of fifty. When asked about the differences in how her generation communicated compared to the current generation she quoted “We had much more face to face conversations since we didn’t have phones to use. We could write a letter or wait to tell them in person.” (Meeks, Donna). The morals of today’s teenagers and young adults are very different then in the 1960’s and 1970’s. It seems to be more about instant and self-gratification than what is right and wrong. As quoted in the book Charles Taylor: Meaning, Morals and Modernity “the desires and purposes I seek to cultivate and
She quoted “ I remember when we got our first TV, it was black and white, when I was about ten years old” (Meeks, Donna). According to the American Psychologist, Vol. 10(10), published in Oct 1955 “The advent of television has been a major phenomenon of American life in recent years. Judged by its rate of growth, the size of its audience, and the man-hours of attention devoted to it, television promises to become the nation's principal communication medium"(Coffin, Thomas). Before then she mentions that they had a radio and no telephone. She didn’t get a telephone until she bought what they called a “Bag Phone” that went into your car console. While the model she had, had been out since 1964 it was still her first mobile phone she owned. In 1990 she was introduced to a new piece of technology as well, a Macintosh computer with a printer. She describes this computer to have a monitor of about 12 inches by 14 inches. She had never seen a computer before this one was set up in her office. She tells me “ I didn’t even know how to turn it on! I wanted my typewriter back” (Meeks, Donna). After the installation worker showed her the basics of the computer, he then showed her how to use the Microsoft programs such as word and excel. “As they were showing me how to do all of these new things I was thinking I’m never going to remember all of this” (Meeks, Donna). The next program they showed her how