Matt's Invitation to Nov 7 Book Talk

book talk

Dear Overlake Community,

I know we’re all often thinking about how much our lives, our world, our schools, our social networks and those of our kids have changed with the digital revolution. Questions about change, technology, and kids have been on my mind in new ways in recent weeks, as I’ve been rereading danah boyd’s It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens and thinking about our first Overlake Parent Book group, I’m struck by many things, but especially this claim: “Technology does not create problems...it makes them more visible” (24).

Like many of you, I didn’t grow up in the digital age, and my first exposure to computers and networks was at the end of high school. Many of the founders of the most popular social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, weren’t born when I was in high school. Their adolescent experiences were different from mine, although there are also ways, as boyd underscores, in which they weren’t so different. In her book, though, boyd provides access to some parts of the new adolescent experience, while also pushing ideas like that in what’s above, which invites us to consider more fully the roots of problems. Further, she’s skillful at addressing adults’ fears and helping us see more clearly where it’s a lack of information about what kids are doing online that can fuel them.

I’m eager to talk about this book with all of you, or as many of you as can come on Tuesday, November 7 @ 7 PM in the library. Jay Heath, Overlake’s director of technology; my wife, Susan Fine, (who works for a consortium of schools that provides online learning opportunities for high school students and teachers); and I have planned an evening that will enable interaction with and reflection on boyd’s ideas and our own. We’re eager to gather your questions in advance, too. Please consider taking this brief, two-question survey.

Finally, don’t feel you have to finish the book to attend. Here’s a review of it, which provides an overview, and you can also find many interviews with danah boyd online to learn more about her ideas. We all feel the challenges of a lot of change, including those that come from our kids’ growing up, but I think together we can consider well ways to address it, to become even clearer about the real challenges and our values and hopes for our kids, and to do better by thinking together and sharing our concerns, thoughts, and approaches.

Warmly,

Matt