'Wired' means 'connected,' Mom?!

The idea that somebody who is "wired" is Net-literate or connected is fading fast – and will no doubt mystify our kids! A third of US Net users have now used the Web via a wireless network, and 20% now have wireless networks at home, the Pew Internet & American Life Project announced in its just-released data memo. And that 20% is double that of January 2005, Reuters reports. What this says is that the Internet is indeed more mobile and more "always on" all the time, and from a parent's perspective it means less and less control over children's Internet activities. Parents might consider this from tech educator Wesley Fryer (to fellow educators): "I think the question should not just be 'how do I control it' but 'how do I manage it?' The issue should be one of helping cultivate an accountable, responsible, and respectful culture of computer use in school [at home too?] rather than seeking to entirely shape user behavior through … blacklisting websites and blocking port access."