The older generation was absolutely shocked by hippy culture. The way hippies dressed, how they had their hair, their music, their moral values…everything was totally the opposite to what they grew up with. Many families were disrupted by what parents saw as a lack of obedience. Schools banned long hair and certain kinds of clothes. But what was most alarming to the older generation was what they believed was the lack of respect for the national institutions. In many cases, Governments cracked down hard on protesters, making demonstrations illegal. This was seen at its worst at the Democrat Convention in Chicago.
But the longer the Vietnam War lasted, the more people began to question it. The daily new reports of the war on TV and the continuing demonstrations began to change public opinion. Originally most of the older generation were for the war, to erase communism, to stop the domino effect, but soon many of them began to question these things.