Adapting Across the Lines

Both of this week's readings are about change. Or, to put it more accurately, adaptation. Gorman writes about how the librarian can adapt her attitude to welcome YAs into the library and provide a place where they feel comfortable and as welcome as the children or adults. Prensky writes about the differences between people who did not grow up in the digital age and the difficulties they have teaching the generations that are.

It seems to come down to a hurdle--jumping over the block that tells us teenagers should behave like fully-formed adults or that there is only one way to learn and it involves books and hours of dedicated study. I find myself on the edge of the digital age. We had computers in the house in the 1980's, and I remember the 'internet' back then, which was a black screen with green or white text that my father would type a question into and ten minutes later he'd get an answer. Wow. I remember each step of the internet's progression into what it is today.

YAs now do not have a historical memory of technology, at least not one as drastic as mine.

Does this make us unable to relate to each other on that level? I don't think so. Who knows, they could be interested in learning about the old days...

The greater issues could be the stereotypes that Gorman claims we hold against each other. Judgmental and overprotective. Noisy and disruptive. The male-female ratio and racial differences, too. They all push together in a recipe for confrontation. However, this can be offset by being firm yet open with the YAs. Welcome them, talk to them, hear them, and let them decide to behave or to leave. I have no idea if this last part will work in practice, but it seems better than yelling.