I want to start this post by saying “Happy Birthday!” to our own KT. If you haven’t checked out any of her post, take a look at this and this. Now that that’s out of the way, on to business…
So, dear reader, a couple of us here at the AATS were swapping kids stories the other day, and came to a realization that there is a big difference with being a parent in the digital revolution by comparison to previous decades. I realize that probably ever generation makes that statement at some time, and most likely, they would be correct. I mean, look at our folks, they had to deal with AIDS, DARE, the Challenger, and nuclear Armageddon (and that was just the 1980s).
Still, there seems to be a different vibe to being a parent when this much technology abounds. How many people can you think of that have a baby and then have pictures of the same child up on Facebook within minutes of the birth? In just a few short years since my kids were born, we’ve seen a huge difference. I can’t imagine being in the delivery area with my camera phone telling my wife, “smile, this is going to be on Facebook in a second.”
Needless to say, there is a little less privacy in family functions. We still have grandparents (and some great-grandparents) that are asking for us to send pictures, movies, etc. of the kids. Can you imagine in years past mailing an 8 mm reel to your folks? Nope, it was Polaroids and come for a visit and see the real thing.
Even with current technology, kids are getting into the act. A few months ago I took my kids to the zoo. What was the highlight of my children’s visit? Taking pictures of things with my digital camera. By the way, they were three years old at the time. If my parents ever handed me a 35mm camera, a bunch of film, and told me to go to town, I would have phoned the nice men in the white coat. Now the “problem” has grown, my kids have their own digital camera. They immediately ask to see any picture that is taken of them, and can’t understand when the person doesn’t have it.
Another set of friends have their kids “steal” their BlackBerry and iPhone any time they turn their around. Kids are so smart with this stuff, and can usually run it better than me. (Now that’s saying something, because I’m a tech dork.) I haven’t ever begun to talk about kids surfing the interweb, and that’s a whole different ball game. We can’t really talk with any authority about it because none of us here at the AATS have kids in the double digits.
So, what are you’re kid experiences in the digital age? Do you have a child that is obsessed with it? Have a niece or nephew that have their own blog? What are you seeing out there?
