The Facebook Data Science team looked at anonymous posts and comments between parents and their children on the network and produced a pretty interesting report on how families interact on the site. Their first finding had to do with the age of the child as an indicator of how likely they were to be the one to initiate the friendship with their parents.
Spolier alert – kids in their early to mid twenties don’t really have the desire to be Facebook buddies with mom and dad.
MORE!
Just think: it's just a matter of time before the current generation of helicopter parents become Facebook-savvy enough to insist that their spawn friend them on Facebook. I'm not sure whether I'm happy or sad about the prospect.
ReplyDelete(Over Thanksgiving, I gave some Estes model rockets and a launcher to my niece's son. She nearly confiscated them, because she thought they were dangerous. This kid is never going to explore Mars, like he tells me he wants to, if his overly sheltered upbringing makes him a wuss.)
That's been a problem with chemistry sets for years. Wired Science has a nice short video about that: a number of prominent scientists have pointed to the home chemistry set as something that nourished their curiosity; Jacqueline Barton recounts that she tried to get one for her own daughter, but couldn't find anything worthwhile.
DeleteI had that experience, too: spent way too damn much money for a "chemistry set" that doesn't do shit.
I'm in my mid 30's and my fb is full of my husband's extended family. DO NOT WANT. But can't unfriend because of politics.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the graph for the cookie-serving, student-loving proffies who like to friend their students, too?
ReplyDeleteInteresting graphic since FB doesn't allow users under 18 years old.
ReplyDeleteWho are the 40% of these kids who friend their parents? That's way too high. Just confirms that today's kids are not normal.
After I finished high school, I looked forward to university because not only could I continue my studies but I had a certain amount of independence from my parents. (I said "certain" because they decided to pay for part of it.) When I started my first job after getting my B. Sc., I couldn't wait to move out of the town I grew up in. Doing that meant freedom without my father or mother looking over my shoulder and a chance to be on my own.
DeleteBack then, it was expected that members of my generation do something similar. It meant we were adults and responsible for our actions. Maybe kids nowadays can't cut the apron strings or know how to.