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I've been neglecting this blog for awhile, spending a bit more time on an alternate technology, facebook. It's an intriguing use of resources and has it's place I suppose. But I encourage my kids (and myself) to not spend time on-line in place of "realtime" encounters. One of my children has taken to getting on the computer and watching a contact list to see if any of "the group" gets on to IM with.

I happened to notice while I was eating lunch that a good friend Don Ferber had listed his blog in gmail. Since I didn't know he was blogging I of course checked it out. I was amazed to see how many people in POP had blogs! Which led me to read Jon Balsbaugh's blog that contained a few subjects I had been thinking about, and some interesting video clips. And that's what prompted me to get back on and write!

The primary topic is culture, and what is and isn't right for today, how should I raise my kids, where should the boundaries be. Since I have six kids it's always a pertinant topic, especially trying to allow the older to do things while protecting the younger. I'm always generating conflict when I say no to something that might be ok for the older but not in the presence of the younger, or that their friends get to do but they can't. Video games, music, appropriate dress, all are potential areas of conflict. I suspect I need to lighten up on some things, but it's an interesting balance. I'm probably more of a cultural fundamentalist (JPB term)in some areas. For instance, even though I'm very much a technical person, I don't necessarily think that children need e-mail accounts from date of birth. My standard had been 15, but I'm re-evaluating. It depends on the child and maturity levels. I very much dislike the cultural norm that says kids have to have cell phones, e-mail, facebook to be modern, hip, cool, connected. It seems it happens to the detriment of real personal interactions. I think the evidence exists to suggest retarded social development by excessive reliance on the on-line experience.

But it's a cultural reality as well, and I actually told one child to get on and create a facebook account. Not that they need to spend hours at it, but used properly it has it's place. For instance, Jim Rolland sent me a video of Victor Wooten, one of the worlds best bass players, giving some times in youtube. Very beneficial to me. But youtube has lots of garbage as well, so mostly it's blocked on my home network. Subject to the sys admin removing blocks for good reasons, like watching wrestling matches to learn technique. NOT for more anime videos! Praise the Lord and turn on disk quotas!