ABSTRACT
Like children and teens in any time or place, today's American youth are creative and playful, and they crave social interaction. These are important priorities to keep in mind as we think about their media-related activities. Children and teens also thrive on a bit of mischief, within safe boundaries, and it is exceedingly difficult to make any with parents constantly hovering. Children who are not given ample opportunities to explore their independence may have trouble learning how to handle it confidently, and this may be part of the reason for what appears to be a significant increase in anxiety in American youth. In some ways, adult worries have led them to give children more technology, typically in the form of cell phones, to increase safety in situations where children are separated from adults. When adults talk about contemporary childhood, they love to reference the past, which always seems to surpass the present in everything good.
