CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
February 1999, Vol. 41, No. 2
CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
February 1999, Vol. 41, No. 2
Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation
"Hey, Mike, how did you do that?" I asked my eighth-grade son.
"Easy. I just clicked on the brick, Dad."
"But, how did you know to click there to win the bonus points?"
"Everybody knows that."
Well, I didn't know that, and I couldn't find it in what passed for the game's manual either. How do you learn this game? You would have to play it over and over again, test-clicking on just about every object that shows up on the screen. That's pretty much what Mike and his friends were doing. Each of the guys played the game constantly, and then compared notes with everyone else.
No wonder the kids were so good! They had endless time, few distractions, and each other. This was the "teenage network" of eight years ago, long before the Internet was big. The teenage network was impressive then. It is awesome today. Middle American teenagers who once had to get permission to play video games on the family television, now have their own computers and use them at will. YA's who used to wait to talk to their friends in school or sit tight until they could get some privacy on the phone, now communicate with each other over the Internet whenever they want. Kids who formerly had a circle of friends that included only the entire enrollment of the their town's junior high and senior high schools, today exchange thoughts with peers throughout the country, if not the world. They are connected. They are the Net Generation.
Don Tapscott defines the Net Generation as the "echo" of the "baby boomers." These children were born between 1977 and 1997 (p.20-21). Surprisingly, they make up a larger percentage of the population than their boomer parents, 30% vs. 29% (p.15). Just as the boomers were the first generation to grow up with television, the Net Generation is the first to be weaned by computers and digital media. They "play, learn, communicate, and form relationships," using technology (p. 7). However, while television is a passive, adult-controlled medium (p. 25), the digital media empower the young user. The Net Generation has the "tools to question, challenge, and disagree," (p. 88).
Certainly, they will bring a new set of expectations to the workplace. We can expect trouble if our institutions do not measure up. Hierarchy is out. Discomfort with large corporations should be expected. "N-Geners" are so familiar with technology and communication that it is not only our offices that will be networked, but also our workers (p. 213). Collaboration, emotional openness, sharing of ideas, innovation, and a "molecular" approach to work will characterize the business world of the near future.
Still, Tapscott does not take a completely utopian view of the impending reign of the Net Generation. He is concerned about the have-nots and praises libraries for equipping the digitally dispossessed. Some parents bring their children to computer-equipped libraries so that the youngsters can acquire digital skills (p. 237). He introduces us to systems engineer Jimmy Efrain Morales of Bogota, Colombia, who got his start in computers when his local library automated its card catalog. Jimmy was so fascinated, he returned daily to search for book titles (p. 278). Tapscott praises the Lakeforest Library Connection in Rockville, Md. Located in a shopping mall, the project targets digital have-nots and attracts over 1,000 users weekly (p. 266). But it will take more than just libraries to bring digital tools to all. There is a role for business and for encouragement from (but not control by) the federal government.
Tapscott is strongest when discussing the impact of technology on society, but a little weak when he argues for the unique character of his Net Generation. Truthfully, they sound a lot like the teenagers I lived with a few years ago, the ones I taught social studies to over twenty years ago, and the ones I hung out with over thirty years ago. He quotes an N-Gener describing the "ideal computer," (p. 207):
... about as big as a piece of paper ... It would be cellular and ... connected to any other computer in the world. It would also be a television giving me every TV channel ... What I would really like is a little credit card on the bottom of the screen and when an ad for something I like comes on I could click on the little card ...It would also be a telephone and you could call your friends ... and ... see what they're wearing... It would also be a stereo and give me any CD or music video I requested. But I want really good sound ...
See what I mean? Don't dismiss me as a jealous baby boomer. I'm pulling for the Net Generation to make our world a better place for all of us. I just want them to grow up a little first.
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