by Taylor Burns

I was sitting at lunch with my friends a couple weeks ago, when all of a sudden we started talking about old TV shows and Disney movies. The movies we watched while growing up, so 2005-2008. Those were the best. “Finding Nemo,” “The Lion King,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Incredibles,” “Bambi,” “Peter Pan,” “Shrek,” “Monsters Inc.,” “Wall-E,” “A Christmas Story,” “The Little Mermaid” and really, the list goes on and on.
Those were our childhood memories. Instead of worrying about guys breaking your hearts, like what happens today, we worried about the prince and the princess living happily ever after. In the movie “Up,” Carl wants to go on a big adventure that he never got to go on with Ellie, but in the end, he realizes that that relationship with her was the real adventure. In “Peter Pan,” we learn that being old doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. And, in “Pinocchio,” we learn that honestly is always the best policy. We didn’t realize it then, but we do now, that those movies taught us so much as we grew up.
The good ol’ days. No cares in the world. Not having to worry about who’s talking behind your back or what kind of makeup to buy. Every little kid was friends with every other little kid.
So much has changed since then. It’s crazy to think that all those movies and old Nickelodeon or Disney Channel shows aren’t even going to be known when our generation has children. Whatever happened to “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” TV series? Or “Hannah Montana,” “Wizards of Waverly Place” or “That’s So Raven”?
All those shows had some sort of lesson behind them. I remember when Hannah Montana once sang “Nobody’s Perfect.” Of course, just like the real Miley Cyrus playing the role, Hannah made some mistakes in her life. She chose boys over her friends, used her emergency credit card to buy some shoes or accidentally kissed her annoying friend Rico. Hannah made some mistakes in her life, so Miley isn’t alone in this one. We’re not perfect, but Hannah was right there, and this keeps being proven as Miley goes on to live her life.
Now, I’m not hating on Miley, because we all make mistakes. Especially in this generation.Nowadays, kids have iPhones and are always texting each other, just staying inside and being lazy. Nowadays, kids are worrying about what kind of clothes are “in” or how expensive makeup is.
The childhoods of kids from when I was growing up, and for kids growing up now, has changed significantly. I think that it always will. I’m going to be able to look at my grandkids one day and reminisce about all of the great lessons I learned from Disney Channel, and I am so thankful for that.