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When I was a child, I socialized at the playground. "Tag! You're it!" a boy would scream, and children dispersed like ants fleeing from bug spray, trying to find the most surreptitious hiding spots. We played jacks, marbles, jump rope, dodgeball, and other outdoor games. Today's generation of children is different. They are more likely to spend their leisure time using technology. My twelve-year-old nephew invites friends over to play his Xbox. My nieces play collaborative games on their Nintendo DSi devices, competing against each other in the same game but on separate devices. My ten-year-old daughter loves playing Words with Friends on her iPod Touch. These are just examples from my family. Today's youth are growing up using technology. They embrace it, and technology has become an inherent part of their daily lives.
This comfort with technology leads children into new territories, allowing them to be creative and test new boundaries. Eliana, my ten-year-old daughter, has a passion for cooking. Using the Web, she has tapped into this talent by creating cooking videos for kids. She has a Facebook fan page, a YouTube account, and a website <www.elianacooks.com>. As a family, it has become a fun way for us to work together. I serve as props manager and director, and her twenty-year-old sister, Soleil, is videographer and editor. After a video is edited, Soleil uploads it to YouTube. Eliana then embeds the video on her website, along with the recipe. It is a lesson in collaboration, mastering technology, and intellectual freedom. The experience has been very empowering for Eliana, allowing her to explore new horizons and challenge herself.
But, as Peter Parker's uncle said in the...