One mother I interviewed refers to her son's bedroom as "the technology cave." He has a TV, computer, stereo, iPod and cellphone. She won't allow food in his bedroom because "that forces him out into the open with us."
There are other ways to bring techno kids into the wider world. For starters, immerse yourself in their world. Ask them to go online to help you find Katrina relief groups. Let them teach you complex videogames. Then be the adult and say it's time to turn everything off and come to dinner.
That's from a recent Wall Street Journal article about the "wired generation." Of course high-technology is yet to reach a good portion of the global village, which is not exactly a bad thing. Consider what's happening to the youth of North America with all the gadgets that have come to control many of them (instead of the other way around). Still, the article ends on a positive note:
In North Granby, Conn., Kaycee Quinlan, 15, says she doesn't mind that her parents look over her shoulder when she's online. "I feel lucky to have parents who care," she says.
Her parents also have a quaint habit of trading not-so-instant messages with her -- sticky notes on the kitchen counter, often with scribbled hearts. "I'd way rather get those notes than cellphone messages from them," Kaycee says. "I come home, I'm alone, and when I see their handwriting, it's comforting."
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