I haven't read the book, so I really can't comment on the author's arguments. But the title, alone, reminds of my childhood when it was common knowledge that television was destroying the intellectual curiosity of the youth of the day. I'm confident that my grandparents generation were certain that radio was going to destroy my parents' generation.
At times, I wonder if technology's greatest gift to mankind is that it provides a handy excuse for parents who are irritated that their teenage children are acting like teenagers. In ancient times, what excuse did parents use when their children hit puberty and started being disrespectful and lazy and otherwise setting up for the end of civilization as they knew it. Did they blame that radical poet, Homer, or the teachers of the day?
"Stop listening to that Socrates fellow, Junior," ancient times Dad might have said. "His teachings will rot your brain!" Actually, they probably did say that. The Greeks did sentence Socrates to death for his teachings, after all.
As the parent of boys aged 13 and 14, I understand how parents wonder what has happened to the sweet, innocent child they had just a year or two ago. For a kid who's 13, those 13 years have literally been a lifetime. For a guy who is about to turn 53, it's a completely different matter. It was only a few short years ago that my son loved sitting in my lap while I read books to him or laying in bed listening as I made up stories for him. Trips to the toy store were high points for his week, particularly if he got to get a Hot Wheels car. While he still likes getting an ice cream cone, ice cream is no longer the cure-all it was just a few years ago. The jokes he found funny now result in rolled eyes and a sighed, "Daaaaaaaad!"
Throw in some convenient, rose-colored memories of how I acted when I was a teenager and I, like many parents, am perfectly ready to find a handy excuse for why my kids are suddenly acting as they are. Perhaps it helps that I was around to watch all seven of my nieces hit puberty and listen to my sisters complain about the evil spirits that had possessed their daughters. Whatever the reason, I'm not looking for a reason why the boys are suddenly acting differently. Instead, I'm trying to explain to them that what seems as if it was ages ago for them seems as if it was yesterday to me. They're changing faster than I can keep up (there's your real future shock). That's why I'm bound to embarrass them from time to time.
Accidentally embarrass them, I mean. All bets are off the first time they bring home a girlfriend.
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