Smart Mobs 1-3

Chapters 1-3

I found myself relating what was said about Japanese youth texting to what I've learned about the breakdown of the Japanese family structure due to their internment during WWII. Smart Mobs certainly paints a rosier picture of the Japanese youth, implying that their new found privacy is in many ways a good thing. I can see that, in a way. I had never thought of texting in those terms before. However, I have certainly put much thought into the way we use all of these forms of so-called easier or more convenient ways to connect with one another. The difference is that, although I myself use email (and look, now this), I feel that what we are doing is the farthest thing from connecting at all. So we just get more and more accustomed to not having to actually speak to people, which I don't think is good for psychological growth. What I find especially scary is that young children are now becoming very adept at these modes of communication. From a sociological perspective, early childhood is the most important time of our lives to be learning how to effectively communicate with others. It is then that we learn how to form healthy relationships. But, if younger children begin using computers or text messages as their main source of communication, I'm afraid they lose that opportunity to learn how to relate face to face. People didn't really have the internet in their homes when I was a kid, but virtually every home regardless of income has internet access. When I went to visit my family last, I tried to help my little sister with a school research project. I found that she had no idea how to go to a library and find a book. I thought is was funny but kind of sad that books had been the place to go for information for centuries, but in a matter of ten or fifteen years they have been made obsolete. I'm sure every generation looks back at these sorts of changes in the same way, but I can't help but feel something very, very important is happening now.