Comments on: KidSpace: Public Places Where Kids Can Be Kids http://www.beginningwithi.com/comments/2006/05/13/comments-on-kidspace/ Deirdré Straughan on Italy, India, the Internet, and the world Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:17:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Deirdré Straughan http://www.beginningwithi.com/comments/2006/05/13/comments-on-kidspace/comment-page-1/#comment-310 Deirdré Straughan Sun, 21 May 2006 09:03:07 +0000 http://www.beginningwithi.com/comments/2006/05/13/comments-on-kidspace/#comment-310 I was premature in assuming that "the Mosquito" had already been installed in the US - though it soon may be, since the device first came to public attention last November. I first heard about it from Boing Boing http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/30/antiteenager_sound_w.html Here's an accessible copy of the article they referred to: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/29/business/journal.php I was premature in assuming that “the Mosquito” had already been installed in the US – though it soon may be, since the device first came to public attention last November.

I first heard about it from Boing Boing http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/30/antiteenager_sound_w.html

Here’s an accessible copy of the article they referred to:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/29/business/journal.php

]]> By: John Marecki http://www.beginningwithi.com/comments/2006/05/13/comments-on-kidspace/comment-page-1/#comment-287 John Marecki Thu, 18 May 2006 15:16:50 +0000 http://www.beginningwithi.com/comments/2006/05/13/comments-on-kidspace/#comment-287 Deidre, Quick question on the source for your comment, "Some convenience stores are experimenting with a sonic device which emits a piercing whine that can be heard by adolescent ears but not by duller adult hearing - so it deters the kids from hanging around in front of the store, without disturbing adult customers. " I can only find references to this in England and Wales, and not the US. Let's take a look at this in another way..... According to the media in the US, everyone is getting fatter and lazier, yet we are also working more than just about everyone else and are grateful for the week of vacation we might get every year, even if our spouse can't get the same week at his/her job. Our kids are fat and lazy, dying by the droves with potato chips and video games in their hands, and medications in their stomachs, or is it that we are over-scheduling their soccer games, lessons and 'play dates', while indulging every whim of adolescence leading to burn-out? The proliferation of the 'Super Nanny' shows on television (Thank you Rupert Murdoch and Fox!) demonstrates that we can't even control or parent our children in a civilized manner anyways, so we might as well let someone else do it. According to the media, every kid in America has to fashion their own prison-style 'shiv' in geography class just to make it through recess and lunch, but that is fine since they aren't learning anything in class anyways and will be socially promoted through high school and graduate with a second-grade education. All in all, though, two things are evident, at least to me: 1) the situation for kids in America is not quite as dismal as the media protrays. Every evening, parks and our own versions of 'piazzas' are full of kids, adults and families. It seems like every day a new spot catering to kids/adolescents opens up and is an instant hit. Safe educational opportunities abound, and for the places where it isn't as safe as we would hope, we are trying to do something about it, and 2) MySpace is not evil. Thanks for the great writing, John Deidre,

Quick question on the source for your comment,

“Some convenience stores are experimenting with a sonic device which emits a piercing whine that can be heard by adolescent ears but not by duller adult hearing – so it deters the kids from hanging around in front of the store, without disturbing adult customers. ”

I can only find references to this in England and Wales, and not the US.

Let’s take a look at this in another way….. According to the media in the US, everyone is getting fatter and lazier, yet we are also working more than just about everyone else and are grateful for the week of vacation we might get every year, even if our spouse can’t get the same week at his/her job. Our kids are fat and lazy, dying by the droves with potato chips and video games in their hands, and medications in their stomachs, or is it that we are over-scheduling their soccer games, lessons and ‘play dates’, while indulging every whim of adolescence leading to burn-out? The proliferation of the ‘Super Nanny’ shows on television (Thank you Rupert Murdoch and Fox!) demonstrates that we can’t even control or parent our children in a civilized manner anyways, so we might as well let someone else do it.

According to the media, every kid in America has to fashion their own prison-style ‘shiv’ in geography class just to make it through recess and lunch, but that is fine since they aren’t learning anything in class anyways and will be socially promoted through high school and graduate with a second-grade education.

All in all, though, two things are evident, at least to me: 1) the situation for kids in America is not quite as dismal as the media protrays. Every evening, parks and our own versions of ‘piazzas’ are full of kids, adults and families. It seems like every day a new spot catering to kids/adolescents opens up and is an instant hit. Safe educational opportunities abound, and for the places where it isn’t as safe as we would hope, we are trying to do something about it, and 2) MySpace is not evil.

Thanks for the great writing,

John

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