Surprisingly, I would think communication is improving

Post #218,220 by imqwerky 8/8/05 6:13:36 PM 8/8/05 10:35:36 PM Reply	Surprisingly, I would think communication is improving Because of cellphones and instant messaging and email, (and this is purely experiential) I think there are more ways for kids to communicate with their parents, albeit impersonally. However, there is a certain safeness to these modes of communication because: 1)there is no interruption of the thought process(at lease with im and email and text messages) and 2)the user has control over when the message begins and ends and the distance involved creates a buffer zone. So, with technology has come new means of communicating, even though the price of technology and the standard of living mandates a two-income household and latch-key kids. At least with PalmPilots,Blackberries, etc, there is a means to stay in contact and keep current on the events of the day, week, month, year. One can keep track of important events such as when is Susie's piano recital? When does Ahmed perform in the Talent Show? When is Meet the Teacher night? Now, skipping over to concern of ID being in the classroom, there will be an uproar from teachers and concerned parents who KNOW that this is complete and total male bovine excrement. Witness the following linkage: [link\|http://www.nsta.org/pressroom&news_story_ID=50794\|http://www.nsta.org/...ws_story_ID=50794] I truly believe that there will somehow be enough noise made by the intelligencia and this issue will get reduced to the compost of "Bad ideas". Till then, I keep chanting the Mantra,"They can't re-elect him! They can't re-elect him!" [link\|http://www.7is7.com/otto/countdown.html?year=2008&month=11&date=4&hrs=20&min=0&sec=0&title=Countdown%20to%20the%202008%20US%20Presidential%20election&bgcolor=%23DFFFFC\|http://www.7is7.com/...bgcolor=%23DFFFFC] Peace, Amy Illegitimi non corborundum. Edited by imqwerky Aug. 8, 2005, 10:35:36 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #218,295 by Ashton 8/8/05 10:42:42 PM Reply	In the immortal words of Studs Terkel a few years back, heard on car radio - his quip, after a brilliant essay was ~ Oh yes, 'communications' (are) everywhere. But communication? That may not stand-alone sans voice inflections, but I think he made the case for there being a plethora of gadgets that have that name on them, but which do not foster other than the most superficial kinds of [??] fact-exchange? and often just - time-filling - as all those kids sending text messages with Nothing in them except, Yo! Got yer Yo! Yo! back. And far from.. just the younger 'kids'. But I do hope yours is the better perception, because if it's not, or not in-time = before the nukes start making brownish/purplish flowers grow.. no more time to grow up after that. (After the first few, IMO it will most likely descend to the Rand Corp's apt description, from the birth of that first? Think Tank in the '50s: spasm war.) I remember Edward Teller, LeMay et al and their Spirit Lives in Kissy and the other stone-cold-faced neoconmen and, in little-Jesus: in Spades. Zealots all. I'm periodically lobbying the Bulletin (of the Atomic Scientists) to move that clock a lot closer than 7-of-Midnight, as it remains on my last issue. Not that anyone much reads that, except those who already Get It about those 40K or more individual funeral pyres and the minutes-away launch of Too-many, which the US or Russia might opt-for any time. We have to recall often now: both these Nuke Supers are now under Authoritarian near-One-'man' governance and the Codes-Bagman assuredly Is.. Some movers/shakers Do notice that symbol, en passant.. it's Logo-World/Slogan-World for most -- ergo I focus just now on That simple but Pithy one. For all our sakes, I certainly hope that the \ufffd-cel conversations which I overhear -- are not the sort which your kids immerse in. There's no question what is possible with all this techno, but we have a rather poor record of using any of them for more than mindless time-killing. Of course a real SHOCK could alter all of that. But.. Can anything less? candles lit.
Post #218,307 by imqwerky 8/8/05 11:13:07 PM Reply	It has been my experience and I realize that, perhaps, because I'm a qwerky being, I am not the norm, but, communication (sans "s") with my own children is quite good. A straw poll of my small corner of the universe indicates that kids are using the available technologies to communicate with their parents as well. Now, I know that I may be presumptuous to extrapolate that to the nation at large, but if it is happening here, can I not believe that it is happening somewhere else? There will always be that sector of the population that will continue to lack what we consider a decent relationship with their parental unit(s), whether it is due to substance abuse, economic distress, gang involvement or any other detrimental influence. For that, I grieve. For that, I wish to continue my education and do something about it. "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." I want to get my master's in Psychology (and maybe even go for the Ph.D.) and become a counselor for a junior high somewhere. I love those kids. I have a knack for relating to them. I had a ball driving carpool for my son for the two years he was attending jr. high. The things I heard (I listened...something that parents rarely do) made me realize the hurdles that that age group faces. Kids these days have an incredible spirit though I have seen how delicate it can be. If I can help these wonderful individuals to flourish, we will have some mighty fine adults to lead us into the future. Peace, Amy Illegitimi non corborundum.

Welcome to IWETHEY!