Personal Interactions

I recently had a literary agent tell me that putting notes in kids' lunches is not sophisticated enough for today's kids. And I wondered...how could anyone not feel good about getting a note at any time--a note just for him or her, that says, basically, "I am thinking about you because I love you."

I wondered at the little girl, maybe nine years old, walking to the schoolbus stop in the morning talking on her cell phone. Have you ever been in a car or worse, at a restaurant--and every person was talking to someone on his and her cellphone rather than with the people in whose company they actually were at the time?

If each child has his or her computer in her own room how can a family interact as a family? Do family members ever talk with one another these days? Do the enjoy each others'company? Do they do fun things together? Or are they like ships passing at sea, waving as they each go their separate ways?

Do you wonder why the mother of one teenager (surely she is not the only one) spys on her child by reading her child's blog? Big Brother--I mean Big Mother--is watching! Thank goodness she is.

Do you know that big corporations are launching ads to caution teens, especially teenage girls, about who may be lurking or posing to be someone else in places like MySpace.com

How do you protect your children when there is no open communication bewteen you and them? The cost of being sophisticated seems to come at the high price of the disintegrating family.