Net Generation

In the early stirrings of the Internet, at a time when Howard Rheingold was talking with passion about the emerging virtual communities, the uproar began.  The faceless Internet will be the downfall of real community and culture.  Smart people – professors from famous universities - joined the foray stating that research indicated that the result of these virtual communities will be to damage the underpinnings of society.  Although this myth was dispelled within a few years, it remained a constant concern that has re-emerged at various times.  The most recent resurrection of this concept is the belief that our upcoming generation of highly sophisticated users of technology are deficient in basic human skills in communication and interpersonal relationships.

Fortunately we have once again disputed this erroneous belief through the words and wisdom of Don Tapscott in his recent book  Grown up Digital. Don’s thorough and expansive research has found that contrary to popular belief, our upcoming generation are in many ways wiser that the rest of us, both in their use of technology and their relationships with others.  They use technology as a tool not a replacement for life.  They are appropriately skeptical and open in their acceptance of others.  They are less inclined to accept how things have been and hope to create new ways to learn, work, and play.  We should applaud them, listen to them, learn from them, and most importantly, believe in them.  They are our future, which I believe is in good hands.

Barbara