Jobs for Our Kids, Our Future
With the passing of genius and Apple architect Steve Jobs, I was faced with a surprising level of grief--and a serious ʻteachable momentʼ I could share with my two middle school kids. “Hand me the Kleenex, Emilie,” I sniffed, “And go get your brother, David. I want to talk to you two.” My daughter returned with her sibling, and an economy-sized bucket of tissues for me to rip through. I proceeded to have them sit, then I launched into my Version of How the World Began. “In the beginning, far far away in the land of California, there were only orange groves and redwood trees,” I told them. “This isnʼt the one about urban sprawl and the Silicon Valley again, is it Mom?” David asked. I shot him a look, blew my nose, and continued. “Fine, letʼs cut to the chase. Back in the day, er, my day, no one had computers. No one. Not even a cell phone. No texting, no Nintendo, no iTunes, no iPad-- the only ʻiʼs we had were in our head!” Both kids shivered audibly. “It gets worse. We had to use pen and paper and mail things through the postal system!” “Can I go to the bathroom?” David got up, “I think Iʼm gonna be sick.” “Sit down, will you. All of this leads me to a very critical point.” They looked at me, mouths open, as if I was showing them where fire came from--or how the lint trap worked-- and they wouldnʼt be far wrong. “Steve Jobs was one of the founding fathers of the technology revolution. The electronic devices that you take for granted everyday-- he, for sure, had something to do with them. If he didnʼt invent them, he certainly impacted the people who did. Itʼs something to think about.”
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