Relevance in Selfe

Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century (or as I like to call it, Techno and Lit) may have been written approximately ten years ago, but the issues and concerns that it raises are still relevant. The children that I interact with cannot fathom the idea of not having personal computers, DVDs, or cell phones. The books of The Berenstein Bears, Fraggle Rock, and Goosebumps have seen their prime and have been replaced by online video games, Disney Princess DVDs, and MySpace. As Selfe says, "Young people... are becoming prisoners of electronic media" (Selfe 33). My boss's five-year-old daughter--although she cannot read--knows how to go online and play educational games and not-so-educational games. "Did you used to play Barbie games when you were a little girl?" she asked me as I stared at the unnecessarily pink page. "When I was a little girl, the only games we had were on Atari and the original 8-bit Nintendo. Back in the stone age, we used to have to read books or watch old episodes of The Muppet Show." I showed her this Muppet video because I wanted to show her what real comedy is. I soon regretted doing so when her little brother's first words were: "Mannah Mannah," followed by his next learned words, "Doo doo doo doo doo!" Digital books, online "coloring" books, and seemingly educational internet games seem to have replaced the traditional books of my childhood. I deeply hope that the number of children who aren't attached to electronic devices are a minority to those who read stories before bed after a long day of rolling around in the mud and playing hide and seek.