Technology part 1: No more luddites

My 4 year old has been at day camp this week and I have a new found love for iced green tea (caffeinated!). What do these two things have in common?  They have given me a little extra time and energy this week. This surplus of time and energy has led to more thinking than usual.  Dangerous, I know.  

I have been thinking about kids these days and technology.  Wow, that statement makes me sound old.

I remember the Christmas (of 1989, I think it was) when we got an Apple IIGS and my little sisters and I played Marble Madness, Clue, and Wheel of Fortune with much enthusiasm.  And then there was The Oregon Trail during computer time in 5th grade.  As far as research for school papers and projects...I remember my mom buying encyclopedias from a door-to-door salesman.  And I was old enough to remember that he was good looking (which is probably why she bought said reference books). I remember sending my first email during my senior year in high school.  I remember my husband and me buying our first cell phone (just one between the two of us, mind you) during our first year of marriage...in 2002.  I've still never tweeted (is that a verb?), and I'm not sure I know what it is exactly yet.

Contrast that to my children's experience.  They were born into a world quite comfortable with...the Internet, cell phones, laptops, texts, twitter, iTunes ETC. ETC. ETC.!  Abby's sweet face was posted to Facebook before she left the hospital.  My children regularly Skype with their grandparents.  We can find Samantha answers to most questions using the Internet, and can often locate a video example regarding her inquiries (what does it look like when baby chicks hatch?...let's go find it on Youtube).  My children probably won't know what a printed encyclopedia is...unless they see one in a museum.

Have you ever heard the term luddite? 

I first heard this term in my Computer-mediated Communication class in graduate school, and I think I may have a little luddite in me.  Here is how Urban Dictionary defines it:

1. luddite:  One who fears technology (or new technology, as they seem pleased with how things currently are...why can't everything be the same?)

I don't know if kids these days have the option of being luddites or technophobes.  Technology is so much a part of their experience on this planet I feel like they wouldn't know to fear it or be against it.  I think the term luddite may be reserved for those of us who took residence on this planet before the Internet.

To say that it is a different world, technologically speaking, than when I grew up would be a gross understatement.  New technology holds many really REALLY positive things for our kids.  Connectivity, information accessibility, new avenues for self expression, global village...just to name a few.  There are, of course, plenty of negative and scary issues associated with technology where children are concerned.  Just ask Dateline NBC.  I feel like part of my job as a parent is to encourage AND protect my children regarding technology. And I'm sure I will learn A LOT about technology from my kiddos along the way too...as long as I'm not a luddite.

Next week, with the help of another morning activity for my 4 year old and more green tea for me, I will post about something specifically related to technology and my kid that has been bugging me lately.