Fast Families, Virtual Children: A Critical Sociology of Families and Schooling

by Ben Agger, Beth Anne Shelton

The Internet, cell phones, and other technologies have changed the ways in which people conduct their family lives, raise children, and navigate the blurry boundary between work and home. Private life is colonized by employers, teachers, corporations; family time is taken up by work, homework, and shopping. What it means to be parents and children has changed dramatically. This book shows how the nurturance of family has increasingly become a willful, radical idea in an era of pervasive technology. The authors analyze important trends, including the acceleration and attenuation of childhood, and offer a children s bill of rights and accompanying parental responsibilities."

196 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a difference thirteen years makes! This book contains some valuable observations about the impact that technology has on the family and its systems. These observations, from 2007 seem very dire. The book was written to warn families about what can happen due to the pervasiveness of technology in our lives. It also analyzes the history of family roles and systems across the centuries and how the ability to observe others has created new role models and new rules for families to “observe” so that their families can stay intact. The text suggests that we need to step up and reclaim these values. I agree that there are values that create strong families, but these values can coexist with technology. As a classroom teacher, I feel that one of my responsibilities is to educate families as to how to continue or create a family life that includes the use of technology to teach, lead and guide children not only in their educational journey but their life journey as well.