Don't Fear the Digital

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Now ask yourself this question: In the offices of the future, which skill set will today's kids draw upon in their day-to-day tasks? Mastering interfaces, searching for information, maintaining virtual social networks and multitasking? Or doing algebra? I think the answer is obvious. It's a good bet that 99% of kids will never use algebra again after they graduate from high school. And yet thanks to the testing establishment, we know a staggering amount about the algebraic skills of today's teenagers but next to nothing about the skills they're actually going to use.

None of this means that schools should give up Intro to Calculus for Civilization IV and Blogging 101. Kids should have a balanced media diet: surfing and gaming alongside old-fashioned reading. (Not to mention going outdoors to toss a football around.) Yes, popular culture can be addictive and time consuming. Yes, you sometimes have to draw the line. The same is true of all social interactions, as any parent of a teenager will tell you. But how can you figure out where to draw the line if you can't measure the benefits and costs? To plan a balanced diet, you need to know something about the nutrients in all the food groups, not just the ones that have tradition on their side.

Steven Johnson is the author of Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter