Kids becoming isolated due to modern pasttimes?

[Zeus]

I actually agree with this one to a degree

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?optio ... 8&Itemid=2

I think too much gaming, mp3 players, and internet sites like Facebook and Myspace have taken the social interaction away from society quite a bit, making people less and less social because they don't really have to be anymore.

[Julius Seeker]

I haven't yet read the article, but I tend feel that technology has become a strong part of communication. IMs have become a substitute for Telephones, and now people webcam all the time.

Facebook, just while it has been mentioned, they're in the business of selling personal information to government agencies. Just make sure you are comfortable with that before signing up =)

[kali o.]

Social interaction and cultural norms evolve and change, it's normal. The previous generation has trouble accepting/adapting, at least with the ease of the new generation, it's normal.

I don't need to read the article...I probably disagree.

[bovine]

why not read it? it's super short.

[Nev]

The article is fine, except that it ignores the fact that games themselves have become a social skill in certain contexts.

The first friends I made in grade school and I bonded over video games. This was in first grade. BEFORE that, I remember being very isolated, but not after.

I will admit to occasionally running away from my problems to games sometimes and playing them obsessively, but after watching the way a lot of people in the U.S. watch TV, I don't feel like too much of a statistical outlier when it comes to abuse of flashing screens. Besides which, it's better than, say, heroin.

[Julius Seeker]

"The charity also said that children who had problems interacting with their peers may find it difficult to create meaningful relationships in later life,"

Fuck yeah! =)