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i’m reminded today of the words of a song that was recorded in 1963…yeah, 1963! here are a couple of verses:
“The Times They Are A-Changin'”, by Bob Dylan Come gather ’round people wherever you roam And admit that the waters around you have grown And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’. Come mothers and fathers throughout the land And don’t criticize what you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’ Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand For the times they are a-changin’.
i’m not trying to be overly prophetic today (nor nostalgic), but i am concerned. the age of technology has so completely redefined life as we know it, that most of us are totally unprepared to respond. and by the time we do, it will be too late. far too late.
this is a message for parents. my days of parenting are over. i gave it my best shot. on some things, i did pretty well. on others, not so good. but its over. no mulligans. no second chances. no do-overs. for the most part, my role has moved from dad to friend…with some occasional advice.
you (the ones with kids still at home), on the other hand, are the ones on my heart. are you paying attention? are you working to stay ahead of the curve? do you know the world that your kids are growing up in? don’t be naïve.
i read an article today that was pretty enlightening. you can read it all right here. but here’s a small section to whet your appetite:
Where Kids Go Online Ever wonder what your kids are looking for online? Hint: It’s not the name of the 26th president. In fact, because kids use search engines like Google to explore, your kids’ online queries may never show up when you check their browser histories. So how can you manage what you can’t see? Norton Family Online’s Top 100 Searches of 2009 Luckily, Norton Family Online, a free family safety service that helps protect kids online and fosters dialogue between parents and children about their online activities, compiled an eye-opening list of the top 100 searches done by kids in 2009. Since they had access to more than 14.5 million queries by kids, we have total faith that the results are not only accurate, but also a great window for parents into the average kid’s online curiosities. The Results Norton looked at the top 100 searches conducted by kids age 18 and under and also broke down results by age and gender. Here are a few highlights:
YouTube, Google, and Facebook topped the lists for both boys and girls.
Searches for “sex” and “porn” came in at #4 and #5 for boys.
For girls, “Taylor Swift” edged out “sex” for slot #4, dropping “sex” to #5.
“Sex” was the #4 search for teens and tweens, but “porn” was the #4 most searched term for kids 7 and under.
Teens love Swift, but tweens and kids under 7 sought out Michael Jackson.
35% of teens and 27% tweens spent their search time on music-related subjects like Chris Brown, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga.
Kids under 7 spent most of their time checking out sites like Limewire and Mininova — sites that offer “free” but mostly illegal downloads.
Social networking sites were in the top five of every age group. Facebook and MySpace for teens and Club Penguin for tweens and children under seven.
now that’s some pretty fascinating stuff!
the world is changing. the landscape that our young people navigate is not the same one you grew up in. i don’t care how old you are! change is multiplying exponentially.
although there is some truth to the old statement that “kids will be kids”…as well as the predictability of many of the characteristics of youth culture that seem to carry on from generation to generation…i am still struck by the explosion of change that technology is bringing.
i’m not here today to decry the satanic influence of the internet, anymore than i got on the bandwagon of backmasking in the 70’s! technology is amazing. it’s potential for doing good in the universe is amazing. in the church, also.
i just want to remind you (and maybe you can remind some others) that the information highway is filled with wolves in sheep’s clothing and the only one who can really protect your kids from danger…and point them to truth…is you.
don’t let the world pass you by. the times, they are a-changin’.
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