As any modern parent will understand, the world our children live in today is vastly different from that we grew up in.
Children today have mobile phones and virtual pets. They update their Bebo and Myspace profiles, upload content to Youtube and record High-Definition Digital broadcasts on lossless re-recordable flash media formats. No putting sticky tape over the end of a C45 cassette to tape the charts off the radio any more.
And they also have those cool trainers with the wheels on. Why can't we get them in an adult size 10?
But most importantly, how are we expected to guide our children or grandchildren through a world in which we only had limited - if any - experience of during our own formative years?
Parents teach what they know. For many thousands of years it was the same sets of skills handed down from generation to generation - this is how you catch food, this is how you wash, this is how to find shelter, and so on. But today's children are left to find their own way in a wireless, always-on, global community that barely existed even a decade ago, and while gaming first appeared in the late 70s it has only recently become a recognisable part of life for the majority of modern families.
Don't worry, we wouldn't dare to presume to tell you how to raise your kids. But, we do understand games better than anyone, and if there's any part of you that doesn't, we strongly urge you read on.
