my latest tweets! 
Published in the Evening Echo, 28/05/08
We have a computer in the corner of the living room. It sits there innocuously, switched off for most of its life. This is the family PC – which really means the kids PC, as both of us grown ups have our own laptops these days. It sees only occasional use – but as the kids get older they’re using it more and more.
Computers are an essential part of children’s lives today. Acquiring mouse and keyboard skills are as crucial to them as learning to wield a pencil, perhaps more so. When I was born computers were about the size of the local library and cost as much as a house. By the time I was 11 they’d made it into the home – but although I was a zealous advocate at the time, the truth is they were pretty useless; the ZX Spectrum, Commadore 64 and BBC Micro with their 64K of RAM and games and programmes saved on audio tape. They were less powerful and of much less utility than the average mobile phone today.
Things have developed so quickly over the last couple of decades that, if you had time to stop and think about it, it would make your head spin. Computers have become so ingrained into our lives that our perception of them is fundamentally shifting: they are no longer “technology”, they’re as much part of the furniture as the living room sofa.
What amazes me is how readily children take to computers. Skills that can take adults years to master are absorbed in a matter of minutes. They find things intuitively – click, double click, windows, files – they just “get it” on a level that adults rarely grasp. We learn this stuff… they just seem to feel it. It’s astonishing to watch.
I suppose it’s much the same thing as years ago, when video recorders first became popular. How many of our parents could programme the video to record their favourite programme while they were out? Who did they turn to instead?
At seven the twins are already dab hands at the basics on the computer: they can start it up, load up a game (educational, of course) and shut it down properly. They can even go online to their favourite websites… and the other day, when they couldn’t remember what they wanted, they went ahead and Googled it. It’s almost frighteningly simple for them.
I’m completely in favour of them using the computer and familiarising themselves with the technology that’s going to play a much more integral part of their lives than it ever did when I was growing up. The internet, or more specifically the world wide web, offers a window to the world: a veritable treasure trove of information, communication and interaction.
But of course there are dangers, and parents have to be vigilant. While the computer offers an invaluable window to the world, it also offers a window into our homes. More than anything the internet is a two-way communications tool – in essence, it always has been, but today’s technology makes that communication seamless and easy.
Anyone and everyone is talking online… and by and large that’s a good thing. The internet is breaking down cultural, demographic, ethnic, geographic and temporal barriers; it’s enabling people to communicate across previously insurmountable boundaries. It’s bringing people closer together.
But there are dangers. Not dangers inherent in the medium, but rather dangers inherent in human nature. It’s not the internet that’s a threat – but the way some people choose to use it. Bullying, cults, sexual predation, peer pressure: all dangers we encounter in the real world, all dangers that have made the transition into the virtual one.
The answer isn’t to stop children from using the internet, but rather to make sure they use it responsibly, and that they know what’s acceptable and what’s not. Ultimately it’s about vigilance: it’s our job to keep our children safe – in the real world and the virtual one.
