Though this is an interesting article about how children are influencing makers of technology like iPads and such, it makes me think a lot more about the multi-tiered society that we are creating: those with technology and those without. I know this subject has been brought up a lot but as a person who works regularly with children who have little, and with young adults who have much, I see how it affects our society deeply. We have and are continuing to build an underclass in our society that barely has access to the things and even ideas necessary to be upwardly mobile.
Think about this: if your parents don't have books in the house, certain studies say that you as a child will probably not read as well or as much as a child who has many books in the house, EVEN IF THEY NEVER READ THEM IN FRONT OF THE CHILD. What is put in front of you lets you know what is possible. My children are very familiar with computers and phones and books because we have them. My mom bought a really crappy computer when we were teenagers because even though she had no experience with them whatsoever, she KNEW that we would need them at the moment and later on. BTW, (my brother is probably the only one who I can share this with and will remember) the phrase 3927(or some such number) to washington, 3927 to washington, was a phrase used by my father frequently in his car because….wait for it…he had a mobile phone IN HIS CAR…In 1976! My brother and I had a vision of what the world could be because our parents had the opportunity to show it. My husband and I have made it a point to show our children what the world can look like, to the best of our ability. It's time for us as a culture individually and politically to decide that we will work to make things available educationally and make parents understand that parenting actually does start at home. We can come together for a wide variety of issues, but class rears it head everywhere, even in our so-called "progressive" movements.
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