February 3, 2010
I have no idea who Gandalf is
Last night, Wade and I watched “Digital Nation” on Frontline — if you missed this, it’s worth 90 minutes of your life; you can watch the entire documentary at PBS.org. (Online, even! How ironic is that?)
Wade and I had to pause the DVR a couple of times to talk about what we were seeing (omg GEEKS). I wasn’t buying the idea that Second Life is the solution to the virtual office — frankly, I don’t think adding avatars to conference calls will make them any less annoying, or will make me feel any closer to the people I work with but never see in person. Wade, on the other hand, wasn’t really convinced by the high school principal who asserted that his students needed to be proficient in digital technologies because the job market demanded it. Most jobs, he argued — including his — didn’t rely on an extensive knowledge of social networking or texting or video games.
Then he said, “You’re kind of on the fringe, you know, with your job.” And I started to argue with him but then I realized he was right. I hate it when that happens.
Eventually we got to the conversation that every parent who watched the documentary wound up having, the one about kids and digital technology. We talked about how introducing kids to computers and the Internet when they’re young takes all the mystery out of it and makes it less appealing, and then we talked about the idea that the kind of multitasking kids do these days changes their brains and eventually we got to the role of parents in this whole mess.
My theory is that my crazy fringe job, the one that requires that I know all the ins and outs of Facebook and Twitter and Posterous, will make those things forever boring to my kids. Because wouldn’t it be totally embarrassing to have fewer Facebook friends than your mom?
Yes. Yes it would.
And then I got out my soapbox, the one about how parents who refuse to engage with digital technology are putting their kids at risk because seriously, people, learn how Facebook works! Your kids are going to, and it will pay off to be just that much ahead of them.
Plus Facebook is a good way to keep up on the kids’ homework, or at least complain about how much homework there is. (Holla, third grade mom friends! You know what I mean.)
“I don’t want to know how Facebook works,” Wade said. “I’m glad you’ve got that covered.” I told him that if we were dividing up parenting duties, I’d take monitoring our kids’ use of social media if he explained where babies came from.
I’m totally the winner there, by the way. Also, my brother is willing to help with the Facebook part.
So we’re in the middle of this pretty serious conversation about the place of digital technology in the classroom and worrying about the possibility that books will be obsolete for our kids and they will go off to college and play video games ten hours a day because there’s no one there to tell them to stop already! when Henry comes skipping downstairs to tell us that he’s finished reading Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It. He tells us the whole story and answers our questions about the book and cannot stop smiling because it’s such a great book and he loved it.
I took him back upstairs and tucked him in, and when I came down Wade said, “That has to make you feel good.”
And I had to admit that yes, it did. Because as much as I love the Internet and everything it offers us, I want my kids to be readers.
Tonight, Henry said, “I want a Twitter account. All my friends have one.” I find that second part hard to believe, but I’m willing to entertain letting the boy get on Twitter — the technology doesn’t scare me at all, and I’m convinced that once he knows that I’m a million years ahead of him in this Internet thing, he’ll go back to reading books in bed at night.
At least that’s what I’m hoping.
Did you watch “Digital Nation?” What did you think?
Posted by Susan @ 10:32 pm • everyday life
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February 3rd, 2010 at 10:54 pm, mamalang Says:
My daughters both have facebook pages. The rules are simple…I will be your friend, and I will have your passwords. I may use those priveleges at any time. I will not post embarassing things on your wall. But they know that mama is way ahead on the technology front, so there is that. At the same time, my daughters both Love to read, just as I do. It’s all about balance
February 4th, 2010 at 1:16 am, Headless Mom Says:
I think I will watch it. Since I haven’t yet, I’ll say that I was way behind the curve with my 19 year old, but am ahead of the curve with my boys. Before I didn’t think I needed to know, but now that I’m involved in social media I know how valuable it is. I don’t think we’re fringe for blogging and being involved in social media-I think that we are going to be the ones that businesses want-pre-trained and ready to go!
Great post Susan!
February 4th, 2010 at 8:57 am, Amelia Sprout Says:
M is two, almost three. I want her to enjoy non electronic things too. Even though we both make a living in IT, we don’t think that technology needs to be as omnipresent as it is in some kid’s lives. I am very happy that I will have enough savvy to be able to hopefully keep up with what she does online.
For now though, she doesn’t use the computer, she can watch us, she doesn’t watch much TV, except Sesame Street and movies when she is sick. My husband did get her an old broken Blackberry, but mostly so she would stop asking to play with mine (that I have for work, that has all social media on it blocked).
February 4th, 2010 at 9:16 am, Shannon Says:
I do think the risk (for us ALL) in being too digitally connected/focused is missing out on in situ, in the moment, “real world” (not the right phrase, but you know what I mean) interactions and experiences, which I truly feel are fundamental to us as humans. Don’t get me wrong, I’m online and in the thick of social media very frequently (though I do not like Twitter), but even so I’m ambivalent about it. I notice that it is teaching my daughters something about being present (or not present) in the moment, and about constant multitasking and the lure of the screen over the lure of nature and books and relaxing and watching the sunset and a million other “old-fashioned” pursuits. I don’t know if this is making any sense. I just think our culture tends toward excess in general, and regarding digital technologies and social media its no different. I wonder if there is a risk to health, happiness, and the human condition in that.
February 4th, 2010 at 9:37 am, Mary Says:
I didn’t read closely enough and thought Wade was going to learn about the birds and the bees over a beer and burrito! Reading is great!!
February 4th, 2010 at 10:22 am, carolyn Says:
I didn’t see the show, but agree that parents need to slightly ahead of their kids on the technology front. My guys are 3 and 6 and to see the way the three year old wields the mouse, manuevers around mom-approved websites, handles the itouch, etc. Has reinforced this fact. I need to get going on twitter, but probably have a year or two to get this going. Need my iphone first!
I will definitely check out the show…online of course!
February 4th, 2010 at 1:22 pm, Sheila Says:
I watched and was struck by the IBM employees’ full-on embrace of the “virtual conference room.” Now, I don’t have an avatar, have never played WoW and haven’t been in the work force for 10 years, but I still found it weird. I get that it’s a money-saver for companies with employees spread around the globe, and am willing to concede that having an on-screen presence may, paradoxically enough, humanize conference calls, but what I don’t get is Second Life’s assertion that a company with employees on the same campus or even in the SAME BUILDING could benefit from the technology. I fear we’re developing a generation of workers who will be even more removed from personal interaction and the skills needed to negotiate around a conference table. (That same generation, however, will always be able to thumb type faster than I ever will.)
That said, I will admit to having made some extraordinary connections online and would rather give up Diet Coke than stop reading blogs. And, I found the technology-based middle school featured on the program quite impressive in how they motivated kids and turned around a failing school. “To Kill a Mockingbird” was never so exciting to me as a seventh-grader (only later was I able to fully appreciate it), but those kids seemed pretty engaged in the process.
February 4th, 2010 at 3:10 pm, The Coffee Lady Says:
It struck Mr Coffee and I the other day that though we go on about how great books are (we both work in literature) what our children actually see are the two of us on screens periodically throughout the day - him reading emails on his iPhone, me on the laptop. It’s easy not to model book-reading to our children, as it’s something that we do when they’re not around - it’s often seen as a solitary treat.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:35 am, Sonnya Says:
2 thoughts:
1)The other night my kids were fighting over who got to read the #3 Percy Jackson book next(5 in the series and one was finishing #3 and 2 were almost ready to start) which I consider a huge parenting “win”. Fighting over a book, yay me!
2) My only issue with kids/tech is I WANT THEM TO KNOW HOW TO TYPE! Yes, I yelled. Sorry. I bought the Mavis Beacon typing program for about $10 at Wal Mart and, although not as proficient as I would prefer, they all have some working knowledge of qwerty. I hate hunt and peckers!
February 6th, 2010 at 10:52 pm, Tiffany Says:
OK, I’m going to be the person that doesn’t comment at all on the main topic of your post.
Did you know that Brendan Buckley is on this year’s Children Sequoyah list? Henry is eligible to vote if he reads just 2 other books on the list. Of course, you probably already know about this.