My husband I were having a discussion of our child hoods. Everyone knew about The Walton’s, The Partridge Family, Disney’s Sunday night movie and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. With only 4 channels or so on TV (no computers, electronic gaming, before the VCR, DVDs and iPods) we had a more common cultural thread. As kids we were more limited in our exposure to different ideas and media. Most of us had a very similar cultural entertainment experience here in the US. My husband and I grew up on different coasts but our entertainment experiences were almost identical.

But now there are hundreds of channels on TV. I do not even recognize the TV shows my mom watches, I never heard of them. I spend way to much time reading edublogs, while my friend reads up on teaching reading, and another checks out soap making. Movies and media are everywhere. My daughter watches Youtube, some movies go straight to DVD, you can watch stuff on your iPod, there are podcasts, and endless gaming experiences. My son and husband live more in the World of Warcraft then in the land of the living. We each can tailor make our own learning and entertainment experiences. In my own household of four we have limited common experiences. That common cultural thread is no longer present, what we now hold in common is the ability to create our own worlds.

So is this a good thing or a bad thing? I know it is our reality. I have narrowed my view of things, I am clueless about much as I have self-selected what information I interact with. Maybe as teachers part of our new role is to encourage some crossover into other view points and information sources. We need to help our students validate information and become exposed to different ideas, to think critically, and to be open to what is out there. I think I need to think on this some more.

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