The Change Mariner: Instant Messaging A Fact of Life For Kids

February 16, 2004

Instant Messaging A Fact of Life For Kids

These days, when Alex wants to go to a friend's house or to play video games, he'll go to his computer and shoot me a quick instant message. It's easier -- and far safer -- than bursting into my home office uninvited. This type of parent-child communication isn't all that unusual (parental anger-management issues aside). Instant messaging is quickly replacing the phone as the preferred communication tool for kids ages 12 to 17.
Remember the old days, when we would spend hours talking on the phone to the same school friends we had just ridden home with on the bus? That's so last century.

Kids such as Kasey Lee, a 13-year-old middle-school student in Irvine, can't imagine being restricted to one conversation at a time. She prefers the party line quality of instant messages, which allow her to gab with many as 10 friends simultaneously.

The conversations haven't changed much since the dark ages, when I was a teen. Kasey deconstructs the day's events at school, makes weekend plans or discusses ``girl stuff'' -- boys -- in her typed computer exchanges. It's part of her regular after-school routine: snack, homework, IM.

Instant Messaging in Java: The Jabber Protocols
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Sip: Understanding the Session Initiation Protocol (Artech House Telecommunications Library)
Artech House

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The Wall Street Journal Special Report on Telecommunications: Speak and You Shall Receive
audible.com

Amazon Price: $2.95

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