The Digital Divide: 'Adults' vs 'Everyone Else'

It is becoming the norm to hear a pre-teen son explaining to his middle-aged father how to organise his photo albums on their personal computer or how to draft an email for a relatives’ birthday.

The way in which the youth of today has embraced the internet age is astonishing – it used to be that the only way to find information for homework projects was in Encyclopaedias, now there are so many online resources that can take the place of one hard copy book. The impact of this is that all the information needed is found in one place, at the touch of a button. Long gone are the days of traipsing off to the library to join the line with your multitudes of photocopying costing you 10p a sheet, or the overdue book fines that are inevitable when you have a big project due, this is all replaced by a tidy folder conveniently located on your desktop.

A recurring opinion of the ‘older’ generation is that nothing produced will ever beat the book and how can all of the information found be classed as credible research material? Along with any other resource used, as long as it is cited correctly, online articles are just as legitimate as any bibliography. Try telling this to your same shirt wearing, grey haired English professor! Could it be that maybe he is just a little bit scared of change?

I do have to feel for those teachers who are yet to embrace the internet age, it must be really unnerving when, walking through the corridors, they hear conversation regarding anti-exam groups or I-hate-homework sites. Could it be that kids now have a place to voice their opinions where there is no Big Brother eye looking over them?

The idea that Teachers are the enemy is nothing new; students are always trying to get one past them. The Technology section of the Guardian Online posted an article called, “The kids are alright online,” where, once again, the kid’s have found another way to get at their teachers.
"The latest thing in Surrey right now is downloading high-pitched tones that only children can hear [the 17kHz "Mosquito"] on to their mobiles, Bluetoothing them around, and then starting up a cacophony in lessons - they can hear it and double up in agony, but their teacher can't."

For any teacher or parent who wants to be able to understand the goings-on of their students/children, the answer seems simple to me, learn for yourself! It is never too late to take on a new project – get one over on them and let them marvel at your computer skills for a change!