Predictions From Kids
Kids don’t necessarily have the most accurate vision for the future. But they generally have the most interesting. Whether it’s the 1970s or the 1990s, kids often reflect the greatest hopes and darkest fears of any given generation’s look at tomorrow. In the 1970s, it was robot presidents and pollution. In the 1990s, it was hover cars and computerized desks.
But what did the kids of 2002 imagine for the future? The January 22, 2002 issue of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times published the predictions of kids and they’re a fascinating snapshot of the generation.
Some excerpts from the kids:
“Homes will be similar to ours now except the alarm system will be a robotic microchip.”
“Museums will have big collections of new dinosaur bones and other bones.”
“The music rage will mostly be techno.”
“Due to carelessness, 90 percent of all people will have contracted a sexually transmitted disease in some point in their life.”
“Minimum wage will go up to $8.35 an hour.”
While museums certainly have big collections of new dinosaur bones, that minimum wage prediction didn’t quite pan out. The federal minimum wage was just $5.15 per hour in 2002, roughly $8.37 adjusted for inflation. But here in 2022, the federal minimum wage is stuck at $7.25, the same as it’s been since 2009.
