If your house is like mine, life moves at the speed of sound... as in the sound of us speeding past each other as we rush from one event to another.
And even though we may not be at the same place at the same
time, we are very connected to each other and even share experiences virtually
thanks to cell phones and the Internet.
Call it a profile of the "Networked Family."
Researchers with the Pew Internet and American Life Project did. The group's last
survey revealed that 58% of people married-with-children (aged 7-17) were those
most likely to have multiple laptops and nearly two-thirds of those in
multiple-computer homes (63%) link those computers in a home network.
Likewise, 89% of married-with-children households Pew
researchers surveyed own multiple cell phones, and nearly half (47%) own three
or more mobile devices.
Some are good at juggling all types of technology. A recent
Sunday comic strip of "Zits" by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman poked fun
at the phenomenon of kids that use cell phones, e-mail, text messages, and the
like all at the same time. While the word fails him initially, the father
realizes that his son is deep in "text-a-post-i-chat-a-mmunication!"
In reality, Pew's report found 70% of couples who both own a
cell phone contact each other once a day or more to say hello or chat; while
only 54% of couples who have one or no cell phones do this at least once a
day.
"Parent-child communications, particularly on a daily
basis, are similarly dominated by the telephone: 42% of parents contact their
child/children daily using a cell phone, and
35% do so using a landline telephone," the report said.
It's true that the biggest down side is that these networked
families have a harder time sharing meals together, primarily because they work
longer hours at home and the office because they are connected to work.
Still, a majority of adults Pew talked with said that
connected technology lets their family life today be as close, or closer, than
their families were when they grew up.
People also said cell phones and the Internet help them stay connected
with friends and family. This is especially true when I want to touch base with
my wife and coordinate our schedules when I'm not at home.
Networked families also report that they spend less time
watching television and have more "Hey, look at this!" experiences
while online. That's very true at our house as we often share a laugh or
conversation about something we found on a Web site.
What's interesting for our family as well is that thanks to
cell phones and laptops, we're more likely to get off the couch and go out and
explore our neighborhood because we know we'll always be connected.
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