Is it just me or are children growing up so fast nowadays? Sometimes, the most surprising things come out of their mouths. And you wonder if that’s because of Cartoon Network or the internet.
Let’s take a look at what’s going on in some parts of cyberspace…
Check out Brad Stone’s The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s
The boom of kid-focused virtual worlds and online games like Club Penguin and Moshi Monsters especially intrigues Mizuko Ito, a cultural anthropologist and associate researcher at the University of California Humanities Research Institute.
Dr. Ito said that children who play these games would see less of a distinction between their online friends and real friends; virtually socializing might be just as fulfilling as a Friday night party. And they would be more likely to participate actively in their own entertainment, clicking at the keyboard instead of leaning back on the couch.
Do you know how I first heard about Club Penguin and Moshi Monsters? Yes, from young kids.
Given the “instant” this and “instant” that world of this younger generation, it does make me wonder what will happen to their school work or their academic performance.
Will we still be able to get more children to read? Or will they shun “regular” books and embrace the Kindle (or other ebook reader)? Or will they want to read only the text that streams from Twitter, IM, or their cell phone?
It seems like the world is spinning faster, and all these changes in technology are creating even more generation gaps (not just between you and your children, but even between siblings).
Children are entering increasingly more and more different worlds. It’s up to you if you wish to stay in the safe confines of your own (similar to what our parents did), or venture into new kingdoms in cyberspace.
