Dot Com Generation

"Mom, where's my iPod?" That is a question that my 2 1/2 year old frequently asks me. Now, it is actually my iPod but she is known to get into my purse, find it, unlock it, and proceed to play "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus repeatedly. She has learned to do this all by herself. I have not taught her to do any of that, nor have I encouraged that behavior. (I am constantly having to reset my icons after she moves them.)

Yesterday, we had to go to the grocery store and we went to a Kroger that we had never been to before. When we got out of the car, Paige pointed to the sign and asked me what it said. When I told her is was Kroger, she asked "Kroger dot com?" Both Paige and Hudson ask to watch their cartoons on PBS.com because that is what is said on the commercials.

If I tell Hudson that I don't have any money, he tells me to "use my card." We don't have a home phone and my children use the term "text" daily. Hudson navigates the computer better than some of the people that I work with. He even has a farm on Farmville on facebook. Hudson has already asked for a NintendoDS and I am dreading the day that he asks for a cell phone. (I actually know someone whose 10 year old has a Blackberry.) In our house, we have books that will read to our children, a computer, a laptop, 4 TV's (1 is a 50 inch plasma), 2 DVD players. a Blue Ray player, 2 DVR's, 2 cell phones, an MP3 player, an iPod, an XBox 360, Playstation 2 (or 3 - I don't know the difference,) surround sound, an iPod docking station, and I am sure there is more that I have forgotten about. Those are just the things we use on a regular basis. Trust me, I am not bragging. That list is actually embarrassing to me. How did we get all of that stuff? I am positive that none of it was "needed." And now, as my children are being more exposed to the outside world it will just get worse.

The other day when we were at Skyline for family night, I saw a table with 4 little girls at it. Their parents (2 sets of friends) were enjoying their "peace and quiet" at the next table over. All four of the girls were playing their NintendoDS's. They were not talking to each other or their parents. To be fair, the parents were probably thinking "This is awesome! We finally get to have an adult conversation without being interrupted with children fighting, etc." But what I was thinking was - "How sad is that? Their children aren't even taking advantage of the fact that they could talk about whatever they want without their parents listening!"

Now we can email gift certificates (which is convenient for when you forget some one's birthday) and apparently emailing Holiday cards is the new big thing. Although this is very good for the environment, it really takes all the fun out of getting the cards, doesn't it? I really like to hang them up, I don't just want to view them on the computer!

I am concerned about this "Dot Com Generation." Are we raising a generation of children that don't know how to interact with their peers? My nieces and nephews are constantly texting their friends during family time, I am not sure if they even use their cell phones to talk anymore. What about the use of facebook and MySpace? Although it is fun, it should not be a replacement for being with your friends in the flesh. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a group of teenagers at the mall, ALL with their headphones in their ears and iPods in their hands. What is the point of that? What kind of leaders are these kids going to be when they can't even walk with their peers without the distraction of music? As future teachers, doctors, police officers, how are they going to be able to interact with people everyday without saying OMG or LOL? Or is this the future of the English language? I certainly hope not.

I am all for progress, I promise. Just look at the list of all the crap I own and you can see that. I just hope that I am able to teach my kids that not only is all of that stuff a luxury but also to not become so wrapped up in it that they can't talk to their friends. I hope that all the technological advances that we have made in my lifetime and the lifetime of my children don't come back to bite us in the future. I don't want my kids to forget how to have a conversation with me and I certainly don't want my future grandchildren to text me "Merry Christmas" instead of coming to see me.

I am not sure what the right answer is. We can't halt technological advances and we can't keep our children from using them, lest we put them even further behind than the rest of the world is. Maybe we can just make an effort to actually TALK to our kids everyday and make sure they TALK to their friends instead of just texting or facebooking (I am not even sure that they use email to communicate - it strictly a forum for chain emails.) Maybe we can find a happy medium between technology and humanity.

P.S. I realize the irony in this post since I am using a blog to chronicle the lives of my children and my thoughts. I guess I am more into technology than I would like to admit!