They work with them at home, in school, and they use them for entertainment. Increasingly these technologies are connected to the Internet, an expanding web of networks which is attracting a million new users monthly. Constantly surrounded by technology, today's kids are accustomed to its strong presence in their lives. Today's kids are so bathed in bits that they are no more intimidated by digital technology than a VCR or a toaster. And it is through their use of the digital media that N-Gen will develop and superimpose its culture on the rest of society.
Boomers stand back.
Already these kids are learning, playing, communicating, working, and creating communities very differently than their parents. They are a force for social transformation. There is nothing more important to parents, policy makers, marketers, business leaders and social activists than understanding what this younger generation intends to do with its digital expertise. This book is based on the belief that one can learn much more about a whole generation from the children who are most advanced in their adoption of this technology. Growing Up Digital was written in cooperation with over three hundred N-Geners, and their opinions and views were recorded in a series of forums and conferences run with the help of New Paradigm Learning Corporation, York University and the FreeZone network.