Parents Beware: Gaming may be beneficial to your child's career!

As more and more adults worry that children areToday's youth are almost always "on," in constant
wasting time online, texting, or playing videocontact with their friends through private
games, social network and video sharing sites,communications like MySpace and Facebook. But
online games, and gadgets such as iPods andcontrary to popular opinion that complete
mobile phones are becoming more mainstreamstrangers are stalking and dominating these
fixtures of youth culture. New research justrelationships, most youth are almost always
released by the MacArthur foundation mightassociating with people they already know in their
serve as a wake-up call...or at least force adults tooffline lives. The majority of youth use new
pause before they pull the plug on their kids.media to "hang out" and extend existing
Copyright (c) 2009 Success Performancefriendships in these new ways just like
Solutionsgenerations before did with pen pals and tree
Today's tech-savvy kids and young adults spendhouses.
more text messages everyday than there areA smaller number of youth do use the online
people on the planet. They grew up tethered toworld to explore interests and find information
multiple electronic devices while juggling textthat goes beyond what they have access to at
messages, surfing the Net and listening to iPods -school or in their community. They form online
all while doing their homework. They mix learning,groups, driven by common interests, to network
communicating and playing.with peers outside the boundaries of their local
By age 21 years of age, it is estimated that thecommunity. They can also find opportunities to
average child will have:publicize and distribute their work to online
- Spent 10,000 hours playing video gamesaudiences, and to gain new forms of visibility and
- Sent 200,000 emailsreputation. By exploring new interests, tinkering
- Spent 20,000 hours watching TVand "messing around" with new forms of media,
- Spent 10,000 hours on their cell phonethey acquire various forms of technical and media
- Spent under 5,000 hours readingliteracy.
As more and more adults worry that children areAnd to a lesser degree, some youth "geek out."
wasting time online, texting, or playing videoThey dive into a topic or talent. But contrary to
games, social network and video sharing sites,popular images, geeking out is highly social and
online games, and gadgets such as iPods andengaged. Geeks tend to be highly specialized and
mobile phones are becoming more mainstreamseek the knowledge of both teens and adults
fixtures of youth culture. Is our next generationfrom around the country or world. But in the
of workers frittering their lives away - or is it justdigital world, experts aren't automatically
possible that resistant parents and employers arerecognized by age. In many respects, geeking out
the ones becoming more out of touch with reality.erases the traditional markers of status and
New research just released by the MacArthurauthority. In the digital world, expertise is what
foundation might serve as a wake-up call...or atdemands respect and they are more motivated
least force adults to pause before they pull theto learn from their peers than from adults.
plug on their kids.Again contrary to adult perceptions, youth who
According to findings published in the study Livingare hanging out online are picking up basic social
and Learning with New Media, this digital world isand technical skills they need to participate in
not sending our youth back to the age of cavescontemporary society. New media forms are
and dinosaurs but creating new opportunities foraltering how youth socialize and learn and if adults
youth to grapple with social norms, exploredon't choose to keep up with today's new media,
interests, develop technical skills, and experimentit is very likely that they will be the ones left
with new forms of self-expression.disconnected and out of tune with reality.