Blog post #8: Grown Up Digital part 2

For part 2 of Grown Up Digital, I would like to focus on the aspect of the family structure and how it has been affected by technology as well as other factors.

As a college student who will be graduating at the end of this year, there was never any question in my mind that I would be moving back with my parents for the foreseeable future. This was something I always thought of as completely normal. Apparently, this is a major departure from how baby boomers (our parents) felt about their living situations after college. Back in those days, the family structure was more hierarchal, and this led to children looking for freedom in various ways. This included going outdoors, going off to college, and moving into their own place immediately after graduation. Since baby boomers were seeking freedom outside, they were familiar with the dangers that could be found out there such as violent crime or sexual assault, which led to a widespread fear and a limiting of outdoor activity when it came time to raise their own children. However, growing up in a time where technology was available to us from an early age, Net geners were able to find this freedom on the internet. This almost eliminated the need to rebel and made it so that Net geners typically had a closer relationship with their parents. This isn't to say that there are zero cases where Net geners rebel, and this also doesn't take into consideration the fact that children were doing things or could potentially be exposed to negative things online (bullies, porn, sexual predators) that their parents didn't know about (ignorance is bliss). 

What I have noticed with this reading is that each generation of new parents is influenced by their parents before them, and their parents before them etc. I know this seems blatantly obvious, but I think as technology continues to evolve, people really need to think about what did and didn't work in terms of the freedom their parents gave them. Trying to install online blocking devices can actually drive your children to try to find loopholes, or view content you don't want them to see on a different computer. However, I don't think that children should be allowed to roam free on the internet with zero acknowledgement from their parents about the perils out there. I think that as technology continues to evolve and access continues to increase, communication between parents and children is something that needs to keep up with it. I like that the author talks about the social contracts he keeps with his children regarding these matters. Children are eventually going to become aware of these things, so it's best to be proactive about it and take all the shame out of the matter, making it a learning experience instead. My parents did try to control the amount of time I spend on the internet and what sites I could go to until a certain age, which I was annoyed of at the time, but when I got a little older, more privileges came along with it. I would say I have a healthy relationship with the internet. Also, I can say with zero hesitation that I have an amazing relationship with my parents, so the general approach they took with me in regards to the internet is something that I can see myself working off of if I ever have children of my own, perhaps with some tweaks depending on the state of the internet at that time, and the personalities of my children.