Looks like I missed a good debate

2006-09-21

Well, the gang - Neil, Dale, James and others were at Hursley earlier this week and at lunchtime the conversation turned to an interesting discussion about kids, computers, antisocial futures and all that. I've not much to add apart from the fact I wish I'd been there (not just for this discussion!), but two things spring to mind:

- the best advice I've been given is to keep the kids computer access in a place they won't be shut away (i.e. the bedroom). Not only does this enable you to keep a parentally watchful eye, but also it means they will still be partially involved in what is going on.

- seems to me that there are three behaviours - passive/passive (TV), passive/active (traditional videogames) and active/active (social software). While these categories are broad generalisations - there is nothing more active than watching kids fight over whose turn it is next - the general tendency seems to be towards more activity and interaction, rather than less, which (again, in general terms) I see as a good thing.

Meanwhile I had a very interesting conversation with a CIO earlier this week, where he was talking about kids coming from college with all their computer-literate-social-networking skills, and the issues these people faced in the sometimes uncommunicative environments of the workplace. It will be interesting to see what happens in a few years time, when the trickle becomes a flood.

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