Last night a first occurred in my house. My 10 year old son was communicating with his friends. 21 years ago when I was 10, if I wanted to talk to my friends, I would have to check with my parents and ring them on their 'home phone'.
Last night I could hear my son talking in his room. I went in and said, "What are you doing? Who are you talking to?" He told me he was talking to one of his friends via Skype on his iPad. Now, a parent could get worried about this, but we weren't as, really, what is Skype? It's just the 21st century 'home phone', isn't it?
Of course ground rules needed to be laid about when & where it would be appropriate to take and make Skype calls to mates - reminded me of the same ground rules my parents had for me when I wanted to ring my friends. And this reflection has again showed me that nothing has really changed - its just the tool, the technology that has.
As I put my 9 month old son down for a nap today, I reflected more and wondered - "How will he communicate to his friends in 10 or so years time?" What will be his 'home phone' or 'Skype'? What tool will be his main means of communicating?
“The internet, and social media on it, merely allows us to extend the range of our conversations. Instead of chatting over the garden fence we are chatting across oceans; instead of meeting in pubs and bars we gather in virtual spaces.” - Colin Walker
Last night I could hear my son talking in his room. I went in and said, "What are you doing? Who are you talking to?" He told me he was talking to one of his friends via Skype on his iPad. Now, a parent could get worried about this, but we weren't as, really, what is Skype? It's just the 21st century 'home phone', isn't it?
Of course ground rules needed to be laid about when & where it would be appropriate to take and make Skype calls to mates - reminded me of the same ground rules my parents had for me when I wanted to ring my friends. And this reflection has again showed me that nothing has really changed - its just the tool, the technology that has.
As I put my 9 month old son down for a nap today, I reflected more and wondered - "How will he communicate to his friends in 10 or so years time?" What will be his 'home phone' or 'Skype'? What tool will be his main means of communicating?
“The internet, and social media on it, merely allows us to extend the range of our conversations. Instead of chatting over the garden fence we are chatting across oceans; instead of meeting in pubs and bars we gather in virtual spaces.” - Colin Walker