There's a much-promoted idea that young people are the savviest and most enthusiastic adopters of technology. It's a mantra that's often recited by the digital evangelists who keep telling us that anyone not falling into lockstep with this brave new world will be left behind like a pile of eight-track tapes or that ancient typewriter gathering dust on a closet shelf.
It's true that the young people I know are fully-fledged citizens of the digital world, with their smartphones and 5,000 Facebook friends and all the rest. But unlike some of their elders they're not quite so ready to throw out everything from the past. Sure, the editors of the student newspaper at my college understand the importance of having a website, but it's the printed paper they can't wait to see when it arrives hot off the presses each week. And yes, most download their music but I know plenty of young people - including my 13-year-old daughter - who are crazy abut vinyl, scratches and all.
Perhaps more importantly, my students see the dangers and problems of the new digital age more clearly than their digital elders.
