Digital Kids

I've been working my way through Douglas Rushkoff's book Playing the Future: What We Can Learn from Digital Kids. This book came to my attention based upon a colleague's recommendation. Rushkoff's basic idea is that the current generation of kids is fundamentally different from their parents, having grown up in the chaotic, multimedia, environment of modern times. But rather than suffering from the distracting influences of video games, the Internet, instant messaging, hundreds of cable TV stations, DVD's and other technologies, they thrive. And, according to Rushkoff are ideally adapted to succeed in the today's technology driven climate.

While I haven't finished the book yet, I do have some problems with Rushkoff's arguments. I agree completely with his basic premise, but in making his argument he finds echoes of this digital age in almost every facet of pop culture. And I think he stretches his point a little far. It is also easy to look at predictions made in 1996 and wonder when they are going to happen. But Rushkoff's "screenagers" are truly here, and are having an impact on today's education and work environment.

In a recent New York Times article (12/19/04, Job Market) Learning Early that Success is a Game, Lisa Belkin discusses recent studies of the gaming culture. She reports that a "fault line" exists around age 30, separating a younger culture that grew up with video games from an older, no video-gaming culture. This younger group is more optimistic, willing to take changes, less deterred by failure and more self-confident than the over 30 group. She references a recent study, Got Game: How the Gamer Culture is Reshaping Business Forever by John Beck and Mitchel Wade. Now I am 40+, and I put in quite a lot of video game time in my day, so I feel a little left out. But maybe I am just at the front of the bell curve. These points on the new generation do echo much of what is discussed in Rushkoff's book, and if you do the math his 1996 "screenagers" would now be pushing 30, so the timing is about right.

I think the differentiation based solely on age is a little over simplistic. In my own experience I definitely see a divide between people who "get it" and those who don't. Age is a factor, but confident surfers are as likely to be 45 as 25. But I think these articles argue correctly that this group is growing, and will be shaping the culture in the workplace and in education institutions. So how do we educators react to create education settings that meet the needs of this new generation?

Douglas Rushkoff
Got Game