Plinky said, “Name three advantages that kids born these days have over older generations. What about disadvantages?
1) The internet. I can hardly imagine what it would have been like to have ready access to so much information at an early age!
2) Ubiquitous connectivity. Even for those like my daughter who don’t remember a time without the internet, being able to connect everywhere is a new thing that kids born now will take for granted.
3) Constant communication. These kids are unlikely to ever walk five miles to the nearest gas station if they run out of gas, because they’ll have cell phones so they can call for help. There are fewer and fewer places without cell coverage, too.
As for disadvantages:
1) They’ll never know a world without surveillance. They’ll be monitored constantly from cradle to grave, officially or unofficially.
2) There are fewer and fewer wild places where they can go to get away and just be kids, running around without a phone ringing or an adult monitoring them in some way. I spent many hours in the woods as a child, but it wasn’t safe for my daughter to do the same thing.
3) The same internet that brings them such marvelous information brings them into contact with more people as children than their grandparents ever knew, thus increasing the likelihood that they’ll encounter predators. Without careful monitoring, they can all too easily become victims.
