Abstract:
When it comes to youth and technology, issues of concern about the future – rather than issues related to opportunities – often dominate the public discourse. This is understandable. First, parents
and grandparents are often baffled by, and sometimes concerned about, the habits of theIr children
and the generations that follow – and this shift in behavior by many youth is surely no exception to that rule. Second, we are in the midst of radical transformations in the information technology environment and in patterns of usage of technology, changes that are bringing with them much creativity but also challenges to existing hierarchies. And third, adults perceive that their children are more likely to use these new information technologies in ways that are at best perplexing and at worst dangerous to themselves and to society. The data collected by social scientists about young people, how they use technologies, and the challenges and opportunities they face often are at odds with this public perception. We appreciate the frame of the FCC’s NOI, which encourages respondents to focus on the
empowerment of parents as well as the protection of our children with respect to online behaviors.