mailbate.com. We respect your privacy and will never rent or sell your e-mail. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. About Matt Rosoff Matt Rosoff is a technology writer for TweakTown. He was a Senior Writer at CNET before moving on to Android Headlines and the Tech Culture team at Slashdot. He has a background in web development, writing and social media. Hailing from the great state of Michigan, Rosoff enjoys the outdoors, writing, camping, and playing the keyboard. Comments (6) My experience has been that the first time your kid gets an iPod for Christmas he will use it the way it was intended, to listen to music. The second time he uses it to play video games. The third time it's to chat with his friends. The fourth time he is still chatting with his friends but now he also is writing notes to himself. The fifth time he is writing his own songs. The sixth time he has stopped chatting with his friends and can't find any music in it. By the time he turns 14 he's writing a journal. "I'm a musician and I have no idea how to be one," says 15 year old James Pace. We must continue to do what we've always done -- "turn on the music and pretend not to notice the rest."-- William Goldman The problem is that there is no way to completely insulate kids from this. While parents may be able to protect their kids from television, we can't stop them from overhearing their friends' (or worse, your own!) conversations about what happens in the latest "Billy & Mandy" episodes. This is the thing that sets kids apart: they do have access to adult culture, and can learn about things they see their parents doing. They just can't learn about them as easily. It's too bad, but I don't think kids are as sheltered from adult culture as you make them out to be. They watch television shows about everything, they don't just read about "sexting" and "hooker bangers." I mean, you can't turn your kid off the internet or cable tv because they have friends on it, you can't keep them from seeing the adult world via the web in their school classes and on the bus, and they can hear your conversations at the office about work, on the street, etc. I'm not saying it's good, but they can't completely escape. That's life. I really hate the new trend of "turning your kid into a child." I don't know where that phrase came from and why it is gaining traction so quickly, but there is no way my kids will be "turned into children." Why don't they want to be "children"? What are they turning into? I didn't raise them to be children, but to be adults. I'm not against TV. I grew up watching television. So did my kids. We just make a conscious choice to watch what we want and that it be age appropriate. You know, like we still tell our kids to go in the pool when they're dressed appropriately and when they want to swim. When did a 3-year old start becoming a 'child' instead of a kid? They're learning everything when they're children. When did kids become children? Are they adults now? Do we have to start talking about them as adults instead of children? That makes no sense! I'm really shocked at all the negativity on here. I agree that there is over-commercialization, but that is the point of the article. It's great to see the media companies are finally doing this research, but it really is their job. A good point might be "I'm a little bit older, but I'm not yet a grown up" is a good song. I love the fact that some kids have different ideas about what it is to be an adult. I agree, the age of the child might play into how they are learning about "things" but I think the problem with having kids turn to computers to fulfill their thirst for knowledge and entertainment is it has become more obvious that a lot of these kids will never become adults (especially the ones on MySpace who use slang that would be inappropriate in an adult setting). What I mean by "a lot of these kids" is most of the generation above mine, which includes teens and young adults. These are the kids that tend to be more like younger siblings in that they want to be a part of everything their parents do. And yes, a lot of those parents use media and technology, but I wonder if they also take them to museums or teach them about "important" things. It's that age group who the article is referring to when it mentions that kids are not learning about the classics anymore. I used to learn about the classics when I was a little girl, not from a book or newspaper article or anything that would actually keep my mind engaged, but from the theater and television. "The age of the child might play into how they are learning about "things" but I think the problem with having kids turn to computers to fulfill their thirst for knowledge and entertainment is it has become more obvious that a lot of these kids will never become adults" That's not the problem, the problem is that kids have a tendency to be more self centered than adults. That's why they are referred to as children. And the author's point is a good one. If this were a problem for adults, we would all have stopped watching TV when we were 8 years old (because we would have already learned everything about all cultures we were interested in). If it's a problem for our kids, there are plenty of alternative ways to find information, the internet isn't the only choice, but it has made it easier to find information easier. I think it was a bad choice to bring up the issue of over-commercialism. I wouldn't expect much less out of The New York Times, but it's not like you have to look very far for examples of this. "As we move through our own adolescence into adulthood, the need for stimulation increases and our desire for novelty is at its zenith. This desire is satisfied by the