I recently came across my notes from the Ken Myers lecture from a while back on “Modern Technology in the Lives of our Children”1 and thought I’d share the various resources that he mentioned and as well as some of the themes he emphasized.
Technology is an important and powerful part of the world today. In his talk Ken encouraged listeners to think carefully about how they incorporate technology into their lives. I really appreciated the overall relationship emphasis from Ken’s talk and the ways in which he encouraged flexible engagement over any kind of simplistic do-it-exactly-this-way approach. Here are some paraphrased sound bites from Ken:
- There is no quick checklist for addressing these issues (regarding technology and its effects on us and those around us). We need to be wise, but not legalistic.2
- We can’t work on these things alone–we need to be in relationship with others who are also wrestling with these things.
- Make the technology serve our relationships instead of our relationships ending up serving the technology.
- A logistical suggestion: Have more shared meals, not just with one’s own family (though that is a very good start), but also periodically with other families.
The various resources Ken mentioned (at least that I could get written down) are below. A word of caution regarding the videos: Ken mentioned that they are intended for adults and some portions deal with topics that are not appropriate for kids to see.
- Books and Other Publications
- Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, by Maggie Jackson
- Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Richard Louv
- Ritalin Nation: Rapid-Fire Culture and the Transformation of Human Consciousness, by Richard J. Degrandpre
- Against the Machine: How the Web Is Reshaping Culture and Commerce — and Why It Matters, by Lee Siegel
- Is Google Making Us Stupid?, by Nicholas Carr, at The Atlantic
- 24 Hours: Unplugged, study by the International Center for Media & the Public Agenda (ICMPA) at the University of Maryland
- Videos
- Growing Up Online (main page), Growing Up Online (video), by FRONTLINE
- Sequel to Growing Up Online, Digital Nation (main page), Digital Nation (video), by FRONTLINE
- The Medicated Child (main page), The Medicated Child (video), by FRONTLINE
Footnotes
- Related Blog Post: Modern Technology in the Lives of our Children: A Lecture by Ken Myers ↩
- “Legalistic” is a term used in some Christian circles to refer to the Christian tendency to become rigid in an attempt to bring about positive changes (e.g., recognizing the value of going to bed on time, and so never, ever allowing for exceptions to that rule). ↩
Related Posts
Modern Technology in the Lives of our Children: A Lecture by Ken Myers
Audience: Christians, General, Parents
Technology Should Be Designed to Help You, Not Distract You (A Quote by Johann Hari)
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