Wired Kids

It's exciting. It's dangerous. And it's fun.

Digital visions dance in their minds: a virtual pistol blasting away humanoid demons; coded notes on an electronic pager; a television family where mom and dad really understand what it's like to be a kid.

From the internet to DOOM, cell phones to DiscMan, wired kids' lives are indistinguishable from technology. Kids congregate in chatrooms rather than street corners, adopt virtual electronic pets rather than live cats and dogs, and fall prey to internet predators who lurk on the dark side of cyberspace. There are privacy issues and online bomb scares, homework assignments on the web and research gathered by watching television. Copycats - or kids imitating behavior they see in movies - are epidemic. Television trance, the hypnotic state so readily invoked by passive "watching", is a daily event. Parents grapple with problems that were science fiction only a few short years ago.

No surprise. Technology and kids are natural partners. They love the bells and whistles on electronic stuff, can't "talk" enough with their friends on cell phones, are not afraid of breaking delicate equipment (they just throw it away and buy new), and thrive in the fantasy of cyberspace. Why? They've been raised in an environment where technology is an extension of themselves, like a third arm or leg. What's a wireless device to a kid who's grown up on cell phones and remote controls? Or a video telephone to someone who spent more time with Barney, Big Bird, and Teletubbies than the kids next door?

So what's the problem?

Jason chats daily with a girl online who lives five hundred miles away. He begs his parents to drive him there - just to meet her.

Cindy desperately wants a beeper. At the same time, her parents are frustrated with her social life. "She's always so busy," they complain. "And very unrealiable. She never tells us where she's going, never leaves notes, and rarely calls in. We're constantly worried - and constantly fighting. Why should we get her a beeper when we can't trust her?"

Michael plays video games for hours every day. He's getting more aggressive with his little brother. Does it have anything to do with Playstation?

Parents need answers now. Would Jason's trip be a healthy family adventure or a catastrophe? Will buying Cindy a beeper reward her behavior or give mom and dad an electronic leash? Is Michael really aggressive or are video games teaching him some very risky lessons?

Consider some of the realities in today's electronic age:

• The business and entertainment industries invest in wired kids. They spend billions of dollars each year "selling" technology to naïve kids, never considering the consequences.
• Technology can teach kids important skills they will need in the future -- if it's supervised correctly.
• There are "hidden electronic messages" everywhere. They can advocate violence, aggression, sexual promiscuity, racism, sexism, and law breaking.
• Kids need someone to demonstrate how to make technology a rich and lively group experience.
• Psychological electronic lures desensitize kids, making it easy to indulge in socially inappropriate, even dangerous, behavior.
• Families, with the right tools, can use technology to become more connected.
• Digital wizardy seduces kids. Unregulated, it has the power to entice young people away from traditional influences and support systems, undermining parental authority.
• Technology is often an isolated pasttime. Kids trade social play for computer games, internet surfing, and activities where they do not have to share.
• Wired kids need to learn how to use - not abuse - technology.
• Technology is a family issue that parents and children tackle every day. The key is to establish guidelines on how to make technology work for, not against, families.