Are the childhoods of our future world being lost to computers?

When you think of the word "childhood" what comes to mind? Playing outside, perhaps the idea of imagination? Is the first thing that popped into your head internet? For many people I would have to say the answer would be no, but on the contrary the internet is becoming something a child's world revolves around. In elementary school it was exciting to come up to the overhead projector and clean off the transparencies, but more likely than not you won't find that in today's classrooms. In classrooms while some are being taught "the golden rule" others are being taught internet etiquette. What is internet etiquette? Internet etiquette is all about how to teach children how to act responsibly using computers. I, personally was taught to treat others the way you would want to be treated face to face, I wonder if maybe internet etiquette should be taught to the older generations as well.

We know that smoking is dangerous or at least now we do but it wasn't always like that. I knew that smoking was dangerous and disgusting which is why I never knew at a young age why a certain family member would be furious with me when I flushed their cigarettes down the toilet...oops. Smoking, drugs, and alcohol, things society considers addictive behaviors but the computer? Many stand "wowed" at the idea that the computer can be addictive and in turn dangerous. Korean students at the mere age of six years old learn how to use the computers responsibly through songs that tell them: "While chatting first greet happily" and "I am the internet guardian angel, I want to be the first to protect". An elementary school in the mid 1990's located in Merrick, NY was teaching me catchy songs about respecting your neighbor and how to clean up, it seems we've come a long way. You might be thinking, "Well what is so bad about this?" Nothing is bad about this if the computer must be a part of their six and seven year old worlds but why does it have to be?

Have you ever heard of an Internet Rescue School? When I first watched the PBS documentary "Digital Nation" and came across this I laughed at how ridiculous it seemed, but the fact of the matter is in some cases this course of action is obviously necessary. How sad it is that people are being sent to these places and being detoxed from the internet, it sounds unfathomable but it's unfortunately true. Is it necessary at such a young age to be exposed to the harsh addictive reality of the internet? What happened to the times where you wanted to go bike riding and be outdoors? Now all you here is, "So and so made me go bike riding." This world is changing fast enough and kids are growing up faster than ever before even without the internet, but with the internet they might as well skip from six to twenty. I fear that with computers being the prime source of interaction children won't be able to interact naturally face to face. I wonder if something so simple and natural as talking to someone next to you, will the idea of that in ten years be absolutely mortifying?