Plugged up

My brother, David, teaches 7th grade social studies and wears a flash drive on a lanyard around his neck. His teenage sons can expect to be relieved of cellphones or Ipods or the Internet for punishment. His students present their class projects in Power Point. This is more the norm than the exception in our society today. We're electronic junkies.

David's son, Ryan, is my go to guy for computer maintenance. He troubleshoots, diagnoses, and repairs for me. He can build a new computer from pieces of old ones. While his talent intrigues our family, he isn't that unique in today's high school. By the time I retired from public education in 2002, teachers were scouting the junior high school for the kids who would take care of them electronically when they advanced to high school.

In the early days these guys were equivalent to the boys in the audio-visual club. They were usually shy with a tendency toward obnoxious. What they lacked in people skills they made up for with their understanding of DOS, that old, unwieldy, operating system we used before Windows. As our technology advanced in sophistication, so did our backward geek. Knowledge is power. They had it, we adults didn't. I figure it was the same thing when cars replaced horses and buggies. The young guys, eager for the speed and convenience, got on board while the old ones stood back, bewildered but fascinated.

The computer geek stereotype is evolving at a rapid pace. In less than 20 years they've moved from the backroom of the school library to the mainstream of American education. If we're lucky these kids will grow up and take over our classrooms. When that happens the power paradigm will shift. I depended on students to teach me, to pull me into the electronic age. They had what I needed and I shamelessly took advantage of their expertise. I learned almost everything I know about the Internet from teenagers. Without them I wouldn't be able to do this.