What was so wrong about the '90's?

Yesterday I was talking to a friend that I haven't spoken to in a while.  He just found out that his girlfriend and him are expecting!  After we exchanged congradulatory comments (he didn't know I was "with child" either) he said something that really shocked me.  "I'm just glad that I'm raising my child in th 2000's then the '90's."

I know what he ment by that statement.  That there are more programs in place for children then there was back then.  And that technology has improved.  There are more schools.  Just in general...more things for his child then there was.

I, on the other hand, disagree.

I'm going to try to keep this as short as I possibly can...but this is a rant that is 16 hours plus in the making:

*I don't want to teach my child that it's okay to take text messages during dinner. 

*That it's okay to not know your neighbor.  That first names are good enough.

*That video games is the norm, not a luxuary.

*You can google anything your parents don't want you to know just yet.

*It doesn't matter what you do, you can be a celebrity.  And somehow, it's cool to be drunk/ bitchy/ attention-seeking/ rehab going/ talentless no one. 

*Yes, we had Britney Spears.  But she never pole danced at a kids award show when she was 17.

*People cared more about voting for the President then for American Idol.

I want to show my child that with everything we have now, sometimes it's better to have simplier things.  I miss a lot from my childhood.

*I want to see more "Rugrats" and  "Hey Arnold" and take away "Spongebob" and pretty much anything on the Cartoon Network.

*I want to see the "Spice Girls" message back:  Girls Rule.  Now adays we have girls running around in hotpants (and in one case, no pants...Lady Gaga...we get it...you're "edgy"...now put on some normal clothes) and singing about getting drunk from sun up til way past sun down.

*I want to be able to watch the news and not hear about any "celebrity" and how they "went to rehab" or "fell off the wagon" or "put on weight."  I really don't care to hear about these people.  So what if a golf player had affairs or an actress is spotted stumbling home from a club after she claimed to be "sober". 

*I want to watch television that the whole family can watch.  Like "Full House" or "The Frest Prince of Bel-Air".  And not have to cover my child's eyes and ears when they talk about something sexual or inapporpriate. 

*I want my child to go to a school where they don't have to walk through a metal dector at the grade school level. 

I guess I'm talking about something bigger than myself.  I see what has been happening to the world in the past few years.  It makes me sick that there's nothing I can do to prevent my child from being exposed to bad things.  I just hope that I'll be able to raise a child that's strong enough to protect themselves from all the terrible stuff that can happen. 

So I ask:  what was really that bad about the '90s?

Until next time: 
~MommyToBee