My Analog Children

Although I take pride in my expertise on digital parenting issues, where I emphasize a pragmatic, developmental approach to helping young people create appropriate online personae and observe the conventions of computer-mediated communication, my own children often define themselves through analog media experiences, although they were the inspiration of my "10 Principles for the Digital Family."

My older son collects vinyl LPs, and -- despite the fact that much of his music-making process emphasizes computer controls and digital sampling and sequencing equipment -- he still loves the rock-on-rock primitivism of the physical media of the record on the turntable. In the era of Photoshop, he's also an enthusiast for printmaking and has completed college coursework in the subject where he has studied with mentor-masters in the field to make painstakingly complex woodcarvings, metal etchings, and other traditional print plates.

Now my younger son has embraced the "fire arts" or "industrial art" that is offered at The Crucible in the Bay Area. He completed a week of instruction in glasswork and is looking forward to coming back for blacksmithing or welding.