The voices of the MSN generation hitherto muffled beneath the beeps and squeaks of instant messages,have spoken.An unfocussed and confused teen signs an automated deal and publishes a book designed to help bewildered old folks navigate the war-zone of teen issues.Enough already of parenting books "written by 50 year olds psychos whose teenage years are long forgotten."Let the old folks know what it really feels like to be a teenager,our perspective,what we really think.
Anyways a friend of mine who is a real wily with almost and practically everything-prefers his name to be kept under lock and key after a trade of nasty emails in response to his unending ventures in the networking world.In his virtual guise he claims to be the representative of a generation who pretends to be something that they're not,whose playground is cyberspace,where spoken conversation is bulldozed by instant messages.
Cyberselves,according to him,are born "partly from that scare-Ooh,you musn't tell anyone your name else they will track you down(there are ways!)and kill you",but also because it's fun to reinvent yourself..Sitting behind the keyboard,you have alot more guts to be outgoing than you do in real life.It's a front for all that.
But for all the artifice there are elements of today's teenage generation that have ring of familiarity.He points out to me an extensive set of subcultures all of whom steady the shifting ground beneath their feet through brand names.He is zealous enough to highlight that our generation is subjected to an unprecedented level of scrutiny by paranoid parents.I decribe his efforts as "new tricks for old dogs", but there are some old tricks for "new dawgs " too:if parents want respect,they should "be consistent".And "we" need to put a bit of effort into it as well.
Like every young and upcoming enterpreneur before him,he is not without self-confidence,"I'm gonna make it big time(yea ryt)"Whatever the changes,teen spirit still smells like a crisp new banknote.And all the best to you dawg!!