Given their comfort with and pervasive use of technology, today's students are undeniably different from those twenty, ten, or even five years ago. The prevalence of technological tools has clearly affected how the youth of today read, write, and communicate, which has, in turn, led to a technology-based generation divide. Mark van 't Hooft opens with an analysis of digital tools most often used by today's students and then discusses how schools are regulating student use of the Internet outside of school, banning digital tools from schools, and blaming technology for deeper-rooted problems such as youth alienation and bullying. While van 't Hooft agrees that technology use does raise issues involving child safety and learning distraction, he posits that the responses of many schools have not resolved these issues but have instead created additional problems regarding First Amendment rights and means of enforcement. Instead of regulating, punishing, and banning, van 't Hooft suggests that schools—and parents—should attempt to forge better relationships with children and technology in order to better educate our youngest generations for their undoubtedly digital futures.

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