My son Connor is only seven months old, but I expect that in a few years he'll know more about technology than a lot of adults.  Although some parents fear that the Internet and other ways of communicating in our brave new world are having a negative effect on our children, I believe the opposite.  And it looks like I'm not alone.

An Ipsos Reid study found that 69 per cent of parents think it's important for children to be tech-savvy from an early age.  While I might consider Connor to be ahead of the curve thanks to his high-tech Mom, this same study revealed that 75 per cent of Canadian children are web-savvy before age seven.  Age seven!  With Internet proficiency happening at such a young age, parents also need to get educated.

I'm reminded how technology has had such an impact on how we communicate when I visit my young cousins on Prince Edward Island.  Jamie-Lynn and Alicia, sisters just a couple of years apart, often talk to each other on social networking sites while they're at home, even though their rooms are only a few feet away from each other.    Between the sisters, there is no need to for constant face-to-face communication when the technology exists to have instant conversations.

While this behaviour might frustrate Moms and Dads who worry about their kids' social skills, it's important to understand that this is simply a new way of socializing, and it's not going to change anytime soon.  In Atlantic Canada alone, Internet users are spending more time on instant messaging and social networking sites than any other region in the Great White North.  The Ipsos Reid survey found that time spent using these tools in this part of Canada amounted to 10 and a half hours a week.

If you think connecting with your kids on various social networking sites might embarrass them, there are ways around this.  I met one Mom at a recent conference who set up a profile on Facebook for their dog, which made her kids much more comfortable because all their friends thought it was cool that the family dog was hanging out online.  In other words, sometimes it just takes a little creativity to keep up-to-date on your children’s surfing habits. 

While I do expect little Connor to teach me a thing or two about technology down the road, it’s nothing that I fear.  Not only is technology an amazing tool to connect people all over the world, but it’s also proving to be a great help to excite, entertain, and more importantly, educate our kids at all stages of their young lives.