Kids Threatening Parents

When did the balance of power tip between parents and kids? I witnessed a girl threatening to unfriend her mom on Facebook. Another kid told his mom that he would block her on aim if she didn't buy the skinny jeans he wanted.

I find it interesting that the digital age has given rise to a new generation of digital dictators. Of course there are those parents who proclaim that they will not allow their children to go on computers period, but in this era of digital everything those children will grow-up lacking skills necessary to survive in a thriving digital economy.

Then there are the parents who think they are monitoring their child's every move on the internet, but they neglect to check the newly enhanced cell-phone they got their kid for Christmas. Cell-phones, hand-held gaming systems, gaming systems, and internet cafes are all over the world accessing the net.

Kids are dominating the net and with the introduction of Facebook for everyone, those same kids are starting to wield an odd level of social power over their parents. I thought about this conflict as I stood at the register wondering, "How dare this little brat threaten his/her parent with social networking?" Then I thought, "Let me be nice to this kid because he might go online and do the survey for this transaction."