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Letters: Interpreting The Text MessageInterpreting the Text Message Related Text Generation Gap: U R 2 Old (JK) (March 9, 2008)To the Editor: Re “Text Generation Gap: U R 2 Old (JK)” (March 9), about text messaging and its effect on communication within families: Why should today’s baby-boomer parents be mystified by things their children like to do? Have we so entirely become our parents, who could not comprehend us as teenagers in the 1960s? I remember once listening to a Pink Floyd song that ended with violent screams, and my parents wondering aloud why I liked something like that. The answer, just as it is today, is that it wasn’t made for them, so naturally they wouldn’t get it. Baby boomers will never understand the interconnectivity of their digital children. Why should we? It’s not made for us. Jim Gogek La Mesa, Calif., March 10 • To the Editor: Even with so much connectivity, whether through text messaging or other technology, we are more sedentary and solitary than at any time in history. The ability to relay information instantly, without thinking about it, hurts communication more than helps it. It makes nothing important, keeps us from appreciating where we are or who we are with. Because we can easily babble to anyone, relationships are shallow and less important. It is imperative that we start to master the technology and no longer let it control us. Robert Kesten Washington, March 9 The writer is executive director of the Center for Screen-Time Awareness. • To the Editor: LMTY (let me tell you): The article noted that text messages allow their senders to “share every life experience the second it unfolds.” But constantly chatting about where you are and what you are doing (simultaneously with the doing) cuts out the adventure and keeps life on the surface. Every family should declare at least one non-texting day each week, when the fingers are still and the mind is allowed to engage the emotions and explore the wonder of the moment. Barbara Younger Danvers, Mass., March 10 Letters for Sunday Business may be sent to sunbiz@nytimes.com. Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional InformationTempus comment: Flying ahead...E.T.F.’s Are Sailing Offshore. Should You Climb Aboard?... Sales of New Homes Fell by 26% in 2007... Little Room for Yahoo to Maneuver... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - Letters: Interpreting The Text Message |
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