Should Parents Text ?

Annette & I attended a great conference last week on “Educating the Whole Child.” It focused on the changing needs of our academic structures to meet the challenges of growing up healthy in 2008. The presenters made some interesting points we parents should consider. They talked about the fact that our children are being taught for tests while the drop out rate soars, even among our brightest. Perhaps our schools have not kept up with the rapidly changing technology scene and its effects on our youth. And then I had to ask myself if as a parent, I have done any better. I joke about my ineptness at handling anything more than my cell phone and have only texted my children less than a dozen times, even though that seems to be their chosen mode of communication. So, like academia, I seem to be standing my ground and refusing to adapt to this ever changing tech frontier. One of the speakers even called herself a “text twit.” We all knowingly laughed but shouldn’t we also be a bit uncomfortable with our apparent lack of expertise?