If you were born on or after August 6, 1991, then you will never know what life was like before the internet. I have been thinking about this lately because my husband and I have been having conversations about our kids and the way they communicate, which is vastly different from how Dave and I grew up communicating.
Communication before the internet was both simple and complicated at the same time.
During school we passed folded up notes to our friends or the boy/girl we had a crush on. We did not have email or cell phones which meant no emailing or texting, and no social media. All I have to say about no cell phones or social media when I was growing up is – thank heavens! After school we ran home to wait for the phone (that was hung on a wall with a cord stretched to its limit) to ring. If it was a call for one of my sisters, I would bug her until she hung up because I was sure my friends were calling and couldn’t get through because we didn’t have call waiting, caller ID, or voice mail.
Dave is not a fan of technology because he believes it’s too impersonal. He prefers life before the internet. He likes picking up the phone and talking to a person, or even better, talk face to face instead of texting or emailing. He struggles with the way our kids communicate with their friends, work, and sometimes, with us. Our kids were born after 1991 so they embrace this new way of communicating. I have to confess – I embrace the new way of communicating too! I do miss the “old way” of communicating, however, I do know that in order to keep in touch with everyone I want to – I have to embrace the “new way”.
Our kids have a lot of friends – online. Most of their online friends live in other states or countries. Isn’t that amazing? I think so, Dave does not. Our kids are learning about different parts of the world in ways that was not possible before the internet; without finding a penpal from another state or country and waiting for mail to be delivered by the post office. Our Google was Encyclopedia Britannica. Our kids are learning from their online friends, and that’s ok with me. Side note: I’ve been fortunate enough to have video chatted with some of them to verify they aren’t predators.
I wouldn’t change the way I grew up before the internet, and wouldn’t change how our kids have grown up with the internet. It was a free and easy life for sure, but this new way of communicating is exciting and offers amazing opportunities.
