As I have stated, I am not necessarily a fan of technology. I watch my friends and my brothers who know the magic computer voodoo that you need in order to be able do what you need to do quickly and efficiently. And I am stuck cursing and swearing at my computer screen, shaking an ineffective fist at it until I succeed.
But my child is not at all like that. I watch her and all I can do is shake my head. And worry. The amount of technology she has access to is phenomenal. She has computers in her classroom and easy access to the Internet. She even has a cellphone. A cellphone! Granted, it is my old one, and it is simply so that we can keep in touch with her when she is out and about with her friends.
I thought I was a cool, hip, with it mom. It certainly seemed like she was ahead of the pack when she was given her phone. But on a recent school trip, my certainty about this fact was shaken. We had pulled away in the bus on our way down the highway, when suddenly- out came cellphones and Nintendo DSi's. One little girl smiled at me and said "I have that cellphone too."
I have a Blackberry. I ask myself: what ten year old needs a Blackberry? Not mine, I can tell you. Because as soon as you let your child online, you let the world in. Do I want my child walking around with the Internet in her pocket? I most certainly do not.
It scares the heck out of me that my child now has to contend with the insanity that is the Internet. I am writing this on an on-line blog and I also realize the irony. And that there is very little that I can do to protect her, other than sit on her and not let her leave the house until she is eighteen. Because there are people out there who know what they are doing, and what they are doing is illegal, immoral and terrifying.
If anyone out there has advice for me, I would love to hear it. Because there are days when I read the newspaper, my blood runs cold, and I long for the day when I had nothing worse to worry about than her stubbing her toe, and I could wrap her up safe, and kiss everything better.
But my child is not at all like that. I watch her and all I can do is shake my head. And worry. The amount of technology she has access to is phenomenal. She has computers in her classroom and easy access to the Internet. She even has a cellphone. A cellphone! Granted, it is my old one, and it is simply so that we can keep in touch with her when she is out and about with her friends.
I thought I was a cool, hip, with it mom. It certainly seemed like she was ahead of the pack when she was given her phone. But on a recent school trip, my certainty about this fact was shaken. We had pulled away in the bus on our way down the highway, when suddenly- out came cellphones and Nintendo DSi's. One little girl smiled at me and said "I have that cellphone too."
I have a Blackberry. I ask myself: what ten year old needs a Blackberry? Not mine, I can tell you. Because as soon as you let your child online, you let the world in. Do I want my child walking around with the Internet in her pocket? I most certainly do not.
It scares the heck out of me that my child now has to contend with the insanity that is the Internet. I am writing this on an on-line blog and I also realize the irony. And that there is very little that I can do to protect her, other than sit on her and not let her leave the house until she is eighteen. Because there are people out there who know what they are doing, and what they are doing is illegal, immoral and terrifying.
If anyone out there has advice for me, I would love to hear it. Because there are days when I read the newspaper, my blood runs cold, and I long for the day when I had nothing worse to worry about than her stubbing her toe, and I could wrap her up safe, and kiss everything better.
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