- Sometimes they have to stop and refer back to their own textbook to remember how to do something�
- Sometimes they are invited to refer to someone else�s textbook for knowledge, whereupon that knowledge becomes part of their own.
- Sometimes they don�t remember where the textbook is, and yet they remember parts of what was written there�
- Sometimes they forget that they wrote this piece of knowledge down already, whereupon it gets written into the book again

Wisdom is what you gain when you apply the knowledge that you have acquired in your personal textbooks. It can be likened to the crib notes that you might have written in the margins next to some particularly important passage. It�s an insight into the tidbit of knowledge, sort of a �how to use this piece of information�, and it also grows as you age.

With that said, most teenagers� textbooks are not as thick as they think it is� they have had very little time (comparatively) to gain their own wisdom about the world and the way it works� other than from their rather limited perspective�

Does that mean that they have nothing to offer?? Absolutely, unequivocally not. Try to understand this though:

Our wisdom as parents, as adults, and as friends has, more often then not, been hard-won. And part of our knowledge and wisdom as parents and as adults is still being acquired. For example: �How do I get them (the teenagers) to understand that I might have some important knowledge and wisdom to give them so that they don�t have to make the same mistakes that I did (or nearly did)?�

I was in the same place as you once. I vowed that once I was an adult I would not make the same mistakes that �my� adults were making by not listening to the teenagers and young adults. And my textbook continued to fill up. And I endeavored to fill in the crib notes in the margins. Only to find myself standing here listening to a new generation of teenagers and young adults say the same things that I used to say. And finding myself lumped into that category of adults.

Interaction and communication using sites like MySpace is “normal” for teens and young adults, and any parent who tries to ban “being normal” is making a big mistake, in our view. We’re trying to get that message out with our book — along with getting the message out to teens about the risks that are indeed there.

MySpace and the online world have a component of risk, just as a swingset and slide at a playground have a component of risk. Unfortunately, we understand the playground risks almost intuitively. With the online world, “common sense” still remains to be developed.

I sent a trackback from our publishing site/blog, http://www.HowToPrimers.com, where we’re posting excerpts from the book as we write it.

It is amazing that one generation never seems to learn from the previous. Great writing, if only the massses would pay attention.