Got handed a copy of this today. This young lady produces her "Mystery News" handbill, once per week, every week. She distributes on campus with permission, and off on her own terms.

Todays Feature Story: What A Girl Wants In A Boy

Sniff, Cry, Sob. Today is another day and another boy got dumped AGAIN!

Why I don't know, but I can tell you what a girl wants in a guy!

The average girl in miss [teachers name] class wants a kind, cute, makes me happy, text me but not too much guy.

If you have these qualities and have a girl friend, keep it outside of school!

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I found the text me, but not too much part interesting. When I was in 6th grade, all the girls wanted to do was talk. Hmm... The whole texting thing has wrinkles us adults probably don't grok, though we think we do. I'll have to have my own kids bring me up to speed!

Thought I would share this bit of advocacy from an up and coming young person, looking to do something that matters just because she thinks it's worth doing.

I like this effort from a young person! --that's it really.

Maybe she will google this someday and laugh in wonder. At the very least, I sat in my car, entertained for a brief moment. Thanks M!

Most 6th graders today don't know of life without cell phones, home computers, the internet, email, 300 channels, and have only been alive through two Presidents.

When I was in 6th grade we upgraded from a B&W to color tv, had four tv channels, a wallphone, wrote letters, and looked things up in an encyclopedia book. And that was just 36 years ago. Makes you wonder what life will be like 36 years from now.

Seriously!

That's the line of thinking her little story brought to me. I also found it very interesting in this day of Internet, she finds value in actually printing her words and distributing them to people.

She's got core elements of form and style present. Main story, features and little regular occuring bits and pieces. It's a one page deal, complete with the occasional ad.

The ad involves tokens used in school to purchase things or time. My son happens to deal in these and apparantly has collected quite a few of these. The ad in this weeks newsletter is for his popular goods and services in exchange for these tokens!

I had no idea...

Is that what I have to look forward to next year?

My 5th grade daughter seems to be a little behind the technology curve then as she does not engage in text messaging, does not have a cell phone (though she wants one), does not have a MySpace page, and with a nod to older technology, does not even have a boyfriend (as far as I know).

I do know with all the technological gadgets out there it is going to be a whole new ballgame when it comes to monitoring what my kids are doing. It's cliche to say it's not like it used to be, but I'm sure the parents of my peers felt the same as I do now when we were kids.

Few years ago, I coached a girls softbal team, 10-12 year olds, they were lousy ballplayers, lost every game, maybe I'm just a bad coach.

But one of the girls was 6 feet tall, and 2 others were taller than be, and I'm 5'9.


I told of of the girls to quit using the term "you suck" to the other girls, and she relplied, but she does, and the other girl just smiled.

Todays 12 year old, is not the same as a 12 year old of my generation.
Heck, when I was in my early teens, used to steal my uncles Playboy when I visited, nowadays, any one with an internet, can see anything he/she wants.

Nwokie: Yeah, that's a tough one. Best answer I ever came up with is speak on the playfield. If you engage in this, you devalue your team and thus devalue yourself, in that the team as a whole limits what one great member can accomplish.

A win, laced with this kind of thing, is really a false win. The feeling is not pure and good and just. Winning, despite the others doing these things is the pinnacle of greatness --there is nothing like it.

For what it's worth, the girls soccer time I coached bought into a lot of this!

Dono: Look out man! It's about to get ugly.

Most of my kids are now in high school. I've one in 6th grade, so it's not all over just yet. My kids have been online and using tech since the early 90's. Been a very interesting ride.

I've been struggling with writing some of this stuff up for other up and coming parents. Our family has entertained any number of questions in that we were early for my area.

Coupla things you should know:

You are not gonna be able to monitor it all. The tech today is too pervasive to allow otherwise. Best start cultivating a culture of trust and honesty in your family. You are going to need it.

I failed in this with my oldest and it was a freaking mess. Still have hard feelings. I don't know that we will heal properly until she is 30. Lessons learned though. The others are doing just great.

With the Internet, I let the kids know I can see their browsing history. Actually I can, but I rarely bother these days. An early show of strength in this area took care of the problem when they got smarter. (And they will get smarter)

I've essentially said that if they come to me with something, we've got a great shot at working it out. If it comes to me through some other means, they are in trouble huge.

Also, they can get amnesty on Internet issues. There are so many things to know and many dangers. There is also a lot of rewards. In exchange for this, they maintain no secrets. It's a fair trade. I don't micro manage there everyday use, but I also know the scope of use and have a chance to have my say on issues.

If you can get them to involve you in this way, you will know plenty to be a solid parent. If you can't, then you are better off not engaging in the tech. Problem with this is you lose relevancy. I've come to learn that's the death of a parent.

I only regret two things:

Giving them cell phones at an early age. Cost me a ton in dollars and mindshare. They will, within a month, get so self-absorbed in their phone life, that family issues become secondary. It goes downhill from there. I don't know many parents that have gotten past this.

My advice: Don't give them their own phone. Get a pre-paid and let them carry it when it makes sense to do so, but also involve them in the paying for the minutes. One long transgression, in the form of an all night conversation with a potential boy/girl friend will essentially drain the phone.

That hurts on allowance day, or when they want to again carry the phone. When this happens, hand them a coupla quarters and they can call home that way.

I'm personally not gonna do phones or cars until they are bringing their own dollars to the table. Didn't hurt me, won't hurt them, IMHO.

I'm at odds with the My Space. I like the fact that they are engaging in online communication. Typing and general tech skills are improved. My kids can type quickly --nothing motivates them like a do you like me, yes no maybe so conversation. Bizzare.

However, they got just as sucked in with that as they did the phones. About a month and they could not wait to get to the computer to gossip, etc... Family issues again went into the toilet. So I've currently blocked that.

I'll open it up again and we will see. I suspect it's gonna go right back down the tubes... If so, then that's just it. I'll treat it just like the phones in that case. Having an online identity carries a cost they will need to pay, or show the family that it's worth the extra burden. Their choice.

On the porn, I'm liberal on this. If a younger person wants to look at some porn, they are gonna look. I do not allow online porn however. Operating the family computer is like driving the car. If they want an online smut profile, they can do this on their own dime and identity. I will not tolerate any of it.

Essentially, this forces them to talk to someone or steal porn as we did. Keeps the profile down and the focus on bigger and better things. Given the privacy implications we face and the government wavering back and forth, I suspect heavy online porn use will have significant implications on more people than we know.

I told them this and said they cannot make that choice for me.

The porn problem online is currently under control.

Get ready for one hell of a ride!

Oh, one other biggie.

Do not put the computer in some private place. Put it right in the family room. This will annoy you, but it will also put their activity under your watchful eye. Also do not dedicate a computer to kid only use.

Use the same computer they do. Make them ask to use it and have them all respect one another on the computer. Closing applications might mean a lost homework assignment, or Dad's work project getting hosed. (It will happen, but not much)

This tees them up for some greater understanding about downloads, surfing in low-brow places, etc... If their use puts the family at risk, it's a lot easier for them to grasp the issues.

Having their own machine diminishes much of this, making some of the tougher issues more difficult.

If you are techy, put them on a Linux machine or a Mac. Use it yourself too for as much as you can.

Today, I've got an Ubuntu machine that's shared. One logon, always logged in. There are 4 desktops available. If somebody sits down at the computer and sees something going on, they can simply ask for their own desktop, knowing others will grant them the same respect.

Doing that really changed a lotta things.

Book'em: I think your analogy of parents a generation or two ago is valid, but you have to admit the speed of technology change has definitely changed the speed. (Art Bell definition: "the quickening"). I guess all generations have noticed this, but there is no question the speed is indeed quickening and makes me wonder where we are headed, and if we are headed there too quickly.

yeah, the computer dead center in the house is good. we've educated our 11 y/o about all the ill people in our society on and off the net for since she was 5. so she is well aware of the dangers of trusting strangers . . .

as for overdose of electronic gadgets and toys . . . I remind her that her report card is her "get out of jail free" card. as long as she gets all "A"s she can do whatever she wants with the phones, internet (my space et al) and TV. I mean, man that TV is on 5 hours a day, but she gets straight A's . . . what can I say?

Now when I was 11, my dad . . . .