The teachers are scaring these kids. In the 70s, I remember feeling hopeless, too, because our hippie/lib teachers all preached that we'd have to go outside only wearing gas masks because of pollution by the year 2000; that water, clean air and food would all be scarce; that we were running out of room because of overpopulation; and that the world was getting worse and worse.
They said that it was up to our generation to fix everything. These were the "language arts and social studies" teachers. Then we'd go into another class and the teacher would discuss suicide.
I still remember the teacher asking, "What are some reasons kids might choose suicide?" and thinking, well, maybe because you teachers keep telling us that everything is horrible and getting worse.
Graduating from Fairview High School in Boulder in 1972, I heard all that and more. In a one-semester Poli Sci elective course in 1971 we were told that the Republican party was going to completely disappear in the next few decades. ROTFLMAO!
And they did, their liberal 'sex' generation caused the great spread of AIDS that killed half the poulation of the earth, reducing the demand for stuff, therefore reducing pollution...... don't you see? the hippies were right all along....</sarcasm>