Kids Today…
There are some interesting findings in the latest Pew survey on teens and the ways they communicate.
Teens use landline phones a lot more than you might have imagined (hint: Mom and Dad pay for the landline).
Girls are becoming the power users among this demographic (which mean teen boys are now officially better at nothing other than answering trivia questions about the various nicknames Chris Berman invents during Sportscenter and NFL Primetime).
Contrary to what you might have imagined, social teens are the ones who are more likely to put in extra hours in front of the computer.
We have some findings that suggest that teen Internet users are more connected. They spend more time face-to-face than non-Internet users. They seem to have more friends and spend more time with them. The Internet is not necessarily taking people away from their social lives.
No word on whether this trend extends to 38 year old men with receding hairlines, TiVo addictions, a false sense of youth (thinking, for example, that they could still probably blend in during Spring Break in Cancun), carpal tunnel, low back pain, and an urgent, unholy need to immediately publish every random thought that pops into their noggin.
Oh yeah, and the survey also found that the teens questioned think people who give, analyze, disseminate or blog about surveys are complete dorks.
I wonder what the constant use of the net is doing to kids in terms of their attention spans. Everything has been reduced to a few letters and an emoticon.
Wait, so sitting in front of the computer suggests a healthy social life?
I guess I should be telling my husband to spend more time trying to master Everquest.
And to think I was focused on things like going out and seeing others…
If you are a teenager and you are asked these questions, what are you going to say? Yes, I spend too much time on the phone and surfing the net and I am short in the friends department? Please…
Dave, that was you in Cancun, wearing the trenchcoat?
You didn’t look anything like the icon man in your logo. Of course, his hair hasn’t receded at all since I started readng your blog about 5 years ago.
I think I hear a groundswell building for truth in logo icon hairlines. I second that: Dave, no one is buying the simian, Sy Sperling-esque widow’s peak (if only because of your frequent self-deprecations), unless it’s supposed to be a depiction of your intern.
Teens have there own social world wether good or bad. Some teens say they have no friends, but I really believe they chose not to have friends. Some people are just anti-social and that’s life plain and simple. It’s not the normal way but that’s what makes the world truel go round. If they choose this, leave it alone. My preteen is already showing signs of going into here own teen world, the only time it seems she knows I excist is when she needs something from me like a ride or money. But I don’t think she’ll turn out to be anti-social all her life just through the teens years and mostly with her mother, those are the breaks!
Dear Dave:
You know teens better than they know themselves.
Mark Borkowski
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Hey Dave,
Having a son who is now 26 and having lived thru those nasty (for both of us) teen years, I can see how he has gained many friends in other parts of the country and world via the internet. Some of those “friends” were just common interest, some have continued and grown where others have fallen by the wayside, some have turned into really solid adult friendships (and one relationship!)
Whereas I was stuck with the local kids, he has been able to explore other cultures and peoples thru the net. So, I can’t really see it as a bad thing (other than those 38 year olds who are trying to be something they aren’t… thanks for saying they are male—oooh that was sexist, sorry).
The net gives a certain amount of anonymity that can open doors that might otherwise be closed. Even tho many attempts are made at being “politically correct”, nonjudgemental, and accepting of other races, religions, handicaps, etc; there is still so much prejudice in our society that it makes me sick.
I think the interaction on the net helps us to meet other people without seeing if they are fat or thin, white or black, Christian or Atheist, “whole” (what the hell is that?) or handicapped (aren’t we all in some way?) If net communication is able, in any way, to help our youth accept one another as human beings, without all the BS, I’m all for it! They sit in front of the damn thing 24/7 anyway – maybe they can grow from it.
They are our future. Let’s hope they are more tolerant and less rigid in their attitudes. My generation still thinks there’s a real difference between Republicans and Democrats and that that’s all there is to choose from… The net opens a whole lot of doors.
Just an old hippie rappin; peace!
Terri
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