I disagree, with the pope and this guy both, I find that kids are curious about foreign countries, things that they never heard of before and the computer can bring the news to them about animals, politics, etc. of other countries. Use all things available.

Probably more an attention span thing, plus being pumped full of Ritalin. Check out a TV cartoon sometime, the scenes last 3-4 seconds.

Think the cell phones with the non-stop texting is much worse. After a couple of thousand "OMG" messages, kids are illiterate.

I think a lot depends on what you use the internet for. If you are addicted to games and porn it´s not going to do a whole lot for you. If you use it to learn new things and stay informed, it is a wonderful tool.
I think TV is the worst. Full of garbage and ads that turns you into a passive moron.

In politically correct leftist Britain? How could they tell?

The internet is a source of information and a link to the entire world. Contrast that with propaganda TV such as Sesame Street.
The Internet is a learning tool.

A lot of kids will become fairly brain-dead if they become so dependent on the internet, because they will not be able to do things the old-fashioned way.

Too late. Critical thinking in younger generations is a thing of the past. It began when schools dumbed down testing, competition and the necessity to work hard toward goals. Children were passed on to the next grade and classes went from those which required thought to those which required feeling, but little else. Heaven forbid a kid should feel bad not measuring up.

The younger Obama voters are good examples; they voted with what was cool and current without ever once examining what his policies would do to the country and to their own futures.

I can´t explain the older generations of Obama voters´ motives for voting for him except to posit that liberalism is a mental disorder, much like "oppositional behavioral disorder" (rotten, nasty, uncouth behavior).

#7 "...I can´t explain the older generations of Obama voters´ motives for voting for him…."

This mushiness of thinking has been going on for two-three generations now. The generation that is before the i-phone and Blackberry generation (the 35 and younger) still get their ´news´ from the World Report at six PM and the headline from the morning paper. They only click around on their computer for e-mail and maybe Facebook to communicate with their grand-kids. They have NO CLUE as to what is happening in today´s world. (This, of course, excludes those of us on lucianne…but we have to admit we´re in the minority.)

The internet has brought the world of information to children -- most of it free. There has never before been as much opportunity to learn as today. Trevor needs to apply himself to his creativeness -- maybe try the internet.

I think everyone is missing the point this gentleman is trying to make.

He is saying that due to the proliferation of screen-based activities, HAND-based activities are being left behind.

Its one thing to read about stuff; its another whole order of magnitude to actually BUILD stuff in the physical universe. Problem solving and logic application are both vastly different between these worlds. Ask any tradesman or artist/crafter/musician... anyone who has seen the newbie choke on his Cliff-Notes. There are no ´undo´ or ´cancel´ buttons outside the cyber environment.

One more point about education. Reintroduce drafting/art. We should all be able to take a pencil and paper and draw a reasonable likeness of what we´ve seen. Taught at an early age and encouraged throughout primary and early secondary education, our children could achieve that integration between observation and communication that is so lacking today.

The absence of PE is also contributing to the dichotomy between cerebral and the physical and should be reinserted.

Just like pharmacology is about "Dosage, dosage, dosage," Internet is about "Usage, usage, usage."

And a matter of amount and kind, as well as age and maturity. Keep in mind that developmentally, the brain is "hand-made". Happy and healthy the child who can be busy picking up, prodding, poking, stroking, handling, lifting, carrying, twisting, assembling, disassembling, sketching, crumpling, crushing, molding, and cuddling things with his hands.

We´re built that way: hands-on.

I agree with Baylis. While the Internet is access to information, how many kids have a hobby today ? They certainly don´t have social skills.