Parents and tech today…

I got back into the office this morning and got pulled (it was more like dragged while kicking and screaming) into a conversation about what an older manager should do about his kid. Since I was brought into the conversation after it had started I asked for a little back ground. Apparently his kid, and their friends, have been texting inappropriate comments back and forth amongst themselves. All of the patents were a little shocked on not just what was talked about, but how they had no clue it was going on.

Now in this guy’s mind he’s freaking about how his son had been able to communicate so much outside of the email filter he had placed on his home computer. He thought this would be the end all of knowing what’s going on in his son’s life. I told him that it sounded like the messages were sent from his son’s cell phone. He didn’t realize a normal cell phone could do this.  He explained that his son has a part time job to pay for the cell bill. I sat back and listened a little more and then asked him if his son used Twitter, AIM, Facebook, MySpace, or Pownce (and these are just the ones I know about).  He looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language for the last 45 seconds.

And that’s the rub for most parents today.  Now this guy is a little more oblivious than most parents, but kids have so many more avenues to communicate today. Most of channels kids use today are off the radar screen of anyone over 25, which compounds a parent’s dilemma. What have you done to know how your kid(s) communicate with their friends beyond the phone and email? You might be surprised on what you find out.