I’d like to follow the President's example and post my own Fathers Day thoughts. I don’t have Parade magazine but I do have the Flightpath Digital Insight Blog. And I was feeling good Sunday after a nice brunch with the Lindgren Family. So here it goes.
My son, Travis and I watched the election with awe and wonder. I can recall the president calling out to fathers in America asking them to take more responsibility. We silently contemplated the meaning of that statement; as we watched the president speak in Denver from our respective couches in our dorm room like apartment.
Like the president, Travis has grown up in a single parent household (with supportive grandparents). I wondered how life will change for him when he is a father one day because of the technologies that helped get President Obama elected.
I often tell people when I arrived at Penn State, in 1990 as a Freshman, I was not issued an email address. When Travis was born I set aside school and went in the Army. When I returned in 1994, everyone had an email account. I got mine jkb107@psu.edu. In many ways I was blessed with a son and email (which proved to be the gateway to my decade long career in the digital world).
Travis and his generation have always been associated with advancments in technology, as opposed to Gen X’ers like myself. I had a walkman, an analog TV, Atari and the Commodore 64. He has two ipods, an HDTV, a Wii and an Xbox. And of course; he has grown up with the internet. We had a land line growing up he has had 4 mobile phones.
And they use all this technology at once: these kids can play xbox online, speak to the other players via a headset, text message via cellphone and use Facebook, all the while listening to a video on youtube. They can even text message with their phone in their pocket while pretending to pay attention to a conversation with an adult.
Parenting in this fast paced world of technology is challenging for two parents, let alone one. I participated in a study while at Penn State that became a book: The Single Parent Resource by Brook Noel (to date this is the only book in which I have been quoted – page 230). The book was designed to provide guidance to single parents on everything from how to save a little money, to getting back into the dating game, and how to juggle work, play and family time. The book never contemplated the explosion of the internet and its partners in crime at MTV Networks.
Freud said that technology creates the necessity for its own conveniences. He would need no telephone if there were no trains to take his son hundreds of miles away. We would need no telegraph if there were no ships for overseas voyages. What would Freud have to say about text messaging, Facebook, Twitter and the places those technologies take our sons and daughters?
One of the key jobs of a parent is to help keep their kid focused. When my son messes up, I try to use the ancient technique of grounding him. However, I forget there are so many access points to circumvent this archaic notion of punishment. For example, in school they have computers in the library with access to Facebook and Myspace. Not to mention, most kids now have access to the internet on their phones.
But there are pluses to this technology. I can often be found showing off video of my son playing soccer or hoops via my own Facebook account. Some parents actually “monitor” Facebook to see what their kids are up to. As a Gen Xer, this seems too big brotherish for me, but I understand the temptation. I have also participated in conversations with him and his friends on Facebook, which is always fun.
We spend a lot of time at soccer tournaments. This weekend for the first time I saw that Twitter announcements are being used at a major tournament. While I won’t be Twittering or sending a Facebook message to my own father, who will get a phone call (on his cell phone) I suspect it won’t be long before we will all be following and communicating to our millennial children primarily through digital means.
Hopefully we can find ways to enjoy life with them as we all ride the groundswell. Like the children themselves, the digital technologies they are growing up with are consternating and amazing all at once. We love both and yet they frustrate us at times. I feel fortunate to be working at an organization that is focused on "Bringing It to Digital" because I am involved in helping brands leverage the technologies my son uses everyday.
PS - Son, I love you and I admire your courage. Being your father has been a great joy and the most rewarding challenge of my life.
PPS – Dad, thanks for being there. No matter what stupid stuff I did in my analog world.
Happy Father’s Day!
