Can we wait until the smart phones become brain implants? Yet, what can we do to curb the hypnotic desire to text? Probably nothing. Idiots, Mr. Einstein or an ant colony?

AJ, I just got a new cellphone yesterday which
does not have internet capability other than
accessing my provider account. LG "revere 2".
it appears to be a substantial device.

best of luck with the young'uns!!! -- j

There seem to be enough stupid, ignorant and gullible voters to keep the lying politicians in office forever.

And we need look no further than 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, to confirm Dr. Einstein's quote about idiots.

An idiot with technology got me into a car crash November before last. I came around the curve on a rural road to find a car blocking both lanes with its rear to the driveway of a nursing home at night just before the crack of dawn. Crash! I shaved off her rear and my right fender (and quite a bit more). The nurse I hit claimed to be making a U-turn. So why wasn't the car moving? Hey, I know! I know! She was on her cell phone. Yack! Yack! Yack! Oblivious to her surroundings. I missed a 12-hour shift with the pay too.

Well...it`s a process...but maybe one day (here`s me being optimistic) we`ll have established a system (via technology and/or community initiative spearheaded by individuals with gumption) whereby it will be virtually impossible to abduct a child... where once again it may be the norm to grant many hours daily of "outdoor privileges" to children.

No need to apologize. My childhood sounds quite a bit like the one you had. Times have changed and not for the better.

Pardon me, good point! I should not have used the term "paranoia," as I myself (mother of a four-year-old boy, living in a small town in the Okanagan of B.C. Canada) regard such "overzealous supervision" as absolutely necessary, even while I am nostalgic for the days of old, like my own childhood, when it was normal to ride my bike to the park at age seven in the neighbourhood and play outside all day while the grown-ups were inside the house. I wouldn`t let my own seven-year-old child do that today.

Living in Arizona with the flood of illegals all around me (literally) its not paranoia, its prudent. My daughter is brilliant and beautiful and has been for several years...in other words a viable target for pig-bastards who would snatch her into a car and hightail it to mexico or one of the spanish-only neighborhoods where they don't talk to police no matter what it is. You only get one shot when raising kids.

Despite my advanced age, the first time ever on the internet was 2 years ago. The ability to send and receive photos concerning products I sell is great. Your referencing their not including a phone number struck a chord with me. Sometimes it might take 5 email exchanges to answer a small question. I always include my number.

I, too, have a small business. I provide pony rides for kids' parties. Prospective customers can phone me, or they can send e-mail.

It's a lot harder to book an event by e-mail because of missing information or because of false expectations.

Here are some e-mail messages I have actually had to send:

- "You've not yet sent me your phone number or your street address."

- "We cannot book your party until I know whether your HOA allows animals. I asked this before. Without an answer I'll have to give your date to someone else."

Then there was the lady with an unusual request. I'm glad we used the phone, not e-mail: "No, I cannot prevent the ponies from dropping fertilizer in your yard. No, there is nothing I can do to prevent it. I think you DO NOT WANT ponies at your party."

Another reason why this electronic age is so permitted is because we are so paranoid to let our kids out of our supervision due to all the predators. Knowing that our children are "safely" interacting from the security of their own homes is a trade-off that many parents are prepared to accept.

Question: If someone from the 1950's suddenly appeared, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about life today?

Answer: I posses a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man. I use it to look at pictures of cats and get into arguments with strangers.

Don't forget to mention the fact that we get the opportunity to observe photos of the meal they are enjoying at a local restaurant.

you are so so correct. but technology is not a problem the ed system is.

People who can interact with others well and use technology but not rely on it are very valuable.

I would rephrase what you said this way: in a world with amazing automation capable of doing human tasks for us, genuine human interaction is becoming increasingly valuable.

Its society and the economy more than the DOE (and I blame them for quite a bit) and parents (who I do not hold blameless). Our society has a thirst for anonymity which people can express their most vile appetites. Combine that with the instant gratification of chat programs and social networking websites and you have a recipe for disaster. More and more children are being influenced from sources that are not their parents. Its a constant struggle. In a household where both parents work its awfully hard to oversee kids the way they are needed. I've worked out of my home since 2003 and have been there for my kids. Society still wedged itself in in and has caused me great concern.

True and for the longest time I didn't. Unfortunately, there has been fewer and fewer cellphones available from the providers and more smart-phones. Even now the phones we have, myself in particular, aren't very smart but most 3/4 do have smart capability.

It's not only technology. Blame it on the Dept of Education and parents as well.

I tried. I limited computer use to 2 hours a day for school work and educational gaming (no social media). Unfortunately here in Phoenix if you want to let your children have any kind of freedom in their childhood years you have to provide a cell phone (thanks the sheer numbers of illegals and the close proximity to the Mexican border). Cell phones today aren't just for phone calls and social media snaked its way in. They are both old enough now to begin making their own decisions and social media, I'm sad to say, is on center stage for each of them.

bah, husbands and wives*

Sorry

Isn't that the truth?