The Next Page: Growing up in the world of digital wonder and peril

Sunday, February 18, 2007


online, the kids are all right
by cooper munroe
y oldest child turns 10 next month. All she wants is a cell phone and Internet access. Not gonna happen this birthday, but someday soon it will. I thought I had a pretty good understanding of how online communities work. mmm Since 2004, a friend and I have been running a blog (beenthere.typepad.com), geared toward mothers and we are now building a Web portal for moms called "The Motherhood". My offline and online lives often feel one in the same, and, as my husband can attest, I surf the Web and e-mail all the live long day. mmm But when I spent some time in Facebook and MySpace, it's obvious I'm in the dark when it comes to teenagers, and pre-teens, on the Internet. mmm So, knowing I had to figure it out sooner or later, last week I got three teenagers engaged in e-mail conversations about their lives online. mmm Click the images below to read some excerpts:

Cooper Munroe is a writer living in Fox Chapel coopermunroe@comcast.net
The Next Page is different every week.
-- John Allison (thenextpage@post-gazette.com) 412-263-1915 -- Stacy Innerst, illustrations