The Parent-Child Gap

Librarians commonly acknowledge generational divides when it comes to technological competencies and seek to lesson them. You will often find libraries offering media literacy skills education to older patrons for this specific purpose.

But there is another type of generational divide that separates young technology users from their elders: their differing perceptions of types of media and how technology should be used.

Because technology changes so swiftly, the social norms for how technology is viewed and socially used changes more quickly than most people can keep track of. Parents do not understand why their children text the person standing next to them for the same reason they do not understand why their children listen to the brain-splitting noise they call music or wear the unflattering clothes TeenVogue calls trendy. Some of youth technology use is purely experimental, some may be a peek into social life of the future. Parents fear the loss of the values they were raised on and that are so lightly poo-pooed by contemporary pop culture.

Parental fear does not go unnoticed by teens. Advertisers for Dead Space 2 took advantage of a teenager's incredulity towards their parent's views on technology. They filmed regular, suburban mom's watching footage of the intensely violent video game and capitalizes on the reactions to persuade teens of the game's worth. Below is a montage of some of the best moments in Dead Space 2 advertising.



The website for Dead Space 2 is even yourmomhatesthis.com

The generational divide in media perception may be too wide to bridge completely, and may become wider still as tech development quickens. But without some sort of understanding between kids and their parents, parents will err on the side of caution and withhold technology access from their kids. Strict censorship does not lead to responsible technology use. It will only make those kids want to play Dead Space 2 even more. Therefore it is important for media literacy to happen in the home, as well as at school and in the library. The shared experience of encountering technology together, of open dialogue about the importance of mindfully encountering media, will lead to more open parent--and more responsible youth-- interactions with technology.