Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

Eric E., Belpre, Ohio:

I don’t realize how much I use digital media because I have grown up with it.

Emmanuel P., Kokomo, Indiana:

We are the first generation who has lived with all this digital media for the majority of our lives. I am not quite sure what digital devices our children will grow up with, but I am sure that we will most likely know how to operate it, unlike our parents and grandparents… When my generation is old and weary, our grandchildren will describe us as the first children who grew up with the technology that dictated how their lives were lived.

Nate K., Teen Second Life:

We have grown up with the technology being new, and we are used to using new things because we have lived that way of life.

Alisha D., Belpre, Ohio:

I think that adults should learn what kids are learning in school these days… When I have projects, like [in] Power Points, due for school my mom always watches me do them. Afterwards she always wants me to teach her how to use them.

Mike L., Belpre, Ohio:

I have often wondered how my generation will be remembered… I couldn’t think of anything… so I popped in my earphones, played a relaxing song on my IPOD and Googled the answer while I texted my friend’s cell phone asking. if he wanted to go to the new Wi-Fi coffee house to get a raspberry _mocha flavored soy latte. That’s when it hit me: my generation will be known for having an abundance of absurd latte flavors!

Rebecca H., Belpre, Ohio:

Teenagers own the present, will control the future, and have free access to the past. Digital Media has improved the possible and done the impossible… Digital Media has shaped “Generation Y” and has revolutionized me. 

Justine H., Belpre, Ohio:

If we are as educated about [digital media] at our age, can you imagine what its going to be like in the future? There will be kids in preschool working. on adobe Photoshop, not in their coloring books. The old way of living will no longer exist in the future and old traditions will be forgotten and everything will be done electronically. We will no longer have to come to school anymore and we will no longer have to read books or write on paper, computers will be our lives. Digital media will be our lives.

Kyle M., Wheatland, Wyoming:

The Internet is making. the world completely new and ever changing, creating endless possibilities for exploration. This vast world of information has proven inviting to kids, making the new generation a curious one.  

Kyle M., Wheatland, Wyoming:

Internet-based self-reliance comes from the independent nature of the computer because it is designed for use by one person. When on the Internet, people decide where to go and what to do entirely on their own, and that idea has been firmly engrained in the minds of this new generation.

Kyle M., Wheatland, Wyoming:

Certain tradeoffs occur in changing generations. I won't go so far as to say that there is nothing wrong with the changes that occur, but there are positive effects that come from them. Person to person interaction may decrease, but personal relationships through improved communication will thrive. It is with these sorts of philosophies that I have great optimism for kids and their future. Adaptation will be the key. As long as the new generation and the rest of the world can adapt to these changes and learn from them, society will be able to keep on accepting change, from each generation to the next.

Morgan B., Wheatland, Wyoming:

I think that digital media has become such a big part of my generations’ life that most people are like me. They take all of it for granted. I don’t honestly think life could go on today if, all of the sudden, every bit of digital media that is in existence disappeared. We rely too heavily upon it.

Justin H., Wheatland, Wyoming: 
My parents don’t text and if they did it would take them an eternity but they like the idea of it.

Justin H., Wheatland, Wyoming: 
Our generation is good at video games. Its almost like it comes naturally because kids can play and be good the first time while at the same time their parents are playing for the first time and have a very hard time. If I had to make a decision on who is better at video games I would definitely say our generation would win.

Michelle H., Bob Jones High, Madison, Alabama: 
When I was younger, when technology wasn’t as big as it is today, my parents would make me go outside and play till it was to dark to see what I was doing. Now parents don’t care what their children do and let them stay inside and play video games all day ‘till they get a headache from looking at the screen too long.

Morgan B.:

I can’t see how people in the past survived without digital media.

Mike H., Louisville, Kentucky:

My generation, those born in the early 90’s, are the first humans to be so profoundly impacted by today’s new technology.

Mike H., Louisville, Kentucky:

With all the technology I have at my disposal, I think that people my age and I will be shaped by the technology of the future more than anyone could imagine. We learn using computers. We play games using computers. We listen to music using computers. We communicate using computers. My generation will be honed to a fine edge by today’s technology.

Sylvia M., Madison, Alabama;

Teenagers really don’t realize how much technology we use, the impact it holds in our lives, and how much we could use it to learn.

Rebecca H., Belpre, Ohio:

“Generation Y” knows Digital Media.

Rebecca H., Belpre, Ohio:

Digital Media has started a revolution. It has revolutionized “Generation Y”. It is revolutionizing me. And it will continue to revolutionize the world! 

Andrew D., Madison, Alabama:

It isn’t difficult to believe that adults aren’t able to understand why and how digital media affects our lives because our generation more than any other has been influenced by the computer.

Andrew D., Madison, Alabama:

It seems that today’s teenagers were born at exactly the right time. As we grew up the computer did as well and by the time we were able to fully understand the opportunities presented by this amazing machine the computer had become one of the most amazing and useful technological devices in the history of the world.

Mike L., Belpre, Ohio:

Every generation has a distinguishing characteristic that separates them from all the rest. Beatniks, hippies and grunge rockers all define a specific generation and conjure memories, stereotypes, and images of what a group of people claimed as their own mark in history. I have often wondered how my generation will be remembered and be identified and whether people will even care in 50 years.

Mike L., Belpre, Ohio:

My generation has been blessed/cursed with the insurgence of digital media.

Pearl S., Madison, Alabama:

The future seems as though it will be heavily based on technology and digital media, and I am fortunate to be a part of the first generation that has experienced it fully.