Beech Tree News Network

Have you ever had to ask your child or grandchild how to do something online or on your cell phone? I have, and they usually know how to get it done!
Communication has certainly changed in my lifetime. I can remember when my family’s telephone was on a party line and then when we got a private line. Cell phones came along much later in my life. Now, like many of you, if I leave my cell phone behind, I feel lost. We’ve had email for several years, but more recently, social networks have added a near instantaneous dimension to our communication.
An Internet site included some interesting statistics (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1484/social-media-mobile-internet-use-teens-...):
•    As the teen social networking population has increased, the popularity of some sites' features has shifted. Compared with activity in February 2008, a smaller proportion of teens in mid-2009 were sending daily messages to friends via social networking sites or sending bulletins, group messages or private messages on the sites.
•    Teens are not using Twitter in large numbers. While teens are bigger users of almost all other online applications, Twitter is an exception. Only 8% of internet users aged 12-17 use Twitter.
•    Also, 66% of teens send and receive text messages, and 62% of online teens search online for news and political information.
•    Wireless internet use rates are especially high among young adults, and the laptop has replaced the desktop as the computer of choice among those under age 30.
•    Three-quarters (75%) of teens and 93% of adults ages 18-29 have a cell phone. In the past five years, cell phone ownership has become common among even the youngest teens. Fully 58% of 12-year-olds own a cell phone, up from just 18% as recently as 2004.
•    Finally, 93% of teens ages 12-17 go online, as do 93% of young adults ages 18-29.
I’m sure these statistics have changed since they were posted; however, I believe the numbers have most likely increased. Our youth are technology users. I’ve heard it said, “First, it was the TV, then it was video games, and now it’s YouTube.”
I believe our youth should be encouraged to use technology and use it appropriately. When Adam and Eve were walking the earth, God already knew that one day their descendants would be logged on and carrying a cell phone. Besides, I’ll need someone younger to teach me how to use the next new gadget.