Monday, October 24, 2005

From ASCD's SmartBrief:

"Parents curb children's online time" Many concerned parents are setting limits to ensure their children don't go overboard in using cell phones, instant messaging and other digital media. A study this summer found that although teenagers' computer time has soared over the past five years, more adolescents still prefer to socialize with each other in person than in cyberspace. The New York Times (free registration) (10/23)

What always ticks me off about these articles is the unchallenged assertion that the only social relationship that matters is a face-to-face relationship. When we look back at research on letter writing in the curriculum, no one suggests that pen pals are antisocial. GRRRR.

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Posted at 4:12:00 PM
   

Comments:

You mean pen pals aren't supposed to be antisocial? ;)

It's long bothered me that people like Diane Rehm find long distance letter romances of, say the "Greatest Generation" era to be romantic and awe inspiring while at the same time believing that email, IM, etc. are soulless.

What it comes down to, Ong told us, is whether or not we interiorized the technology, whether the technology had become natural and, therefore, part of our consciousness.

I note with some amusement that this man who typed thousands of letters and received thousands of typed letters was himself not comfortable with email because you couldn't be sure who was actually sending the message, as if a typed letter couldn't be forged. The difference between him and, say, Diane Rehm? Ong recognized his own lack of interiorization of digital technology even while at the same time immensely interested in it..

# posted by  John : 8:31 PM

 

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