Okay. . . so if I’m a subscriber to AOL in today’s world, I’m hopelessly outdated. I understand that. (By the way, I don’t subscribe to AOL). But if I was a subscriber to Prodigy or AOL in 1991 (which I was as I started with one and then switched to the other), then I was a technological genius living in the future. Things have changed and they have changed fast! The Internet used to be a place that very few people knew about or would visit. Now, we live there.
Seventeen years wasn’t that long ago. . . really. Time has flown by fast since 1994. Want to know how much things have changed? Then eavesdrop on this little conversation between The Today Show hosts back in 1994. . . . It will make you laugh. . . and it will make you feel pretty doggone technologically advanced and smart. . . .
I often describe culture as a snow ball that started small at the top of the hill. Now, it’s tumbling down the hill picking us mass, volume, and speed. That’s all the more reason why we need to keep our finger on the pulse of our changing culture. Like the Men of Issachar, we need to understand the times so that we can know what our Lord would have us do.
Hi Walt,
I have to chime on this one. I teach internet safety to 4th and 5th grade students. Before we start I administer a survey to the students to get a pulse of their internet use. About five years ago less than half of the students used the internet and only if a parent was in the room. Now virtually all the students use the internet and most use it weekly or more often. Over 76% use it without a parent in the room. Over 85% have accidentally, or on purpose, been on a web site that was not a good place for them. They knew it was not good by the “bad pictures”–most sited answer. When I asked what are some rules you have at home concerning internet use, the second highest response was “no rules”. The third highest response was “stay off bad sites”. When I asked who decided if a site was bad, many students said that they decide for themselves. A little scary to me!