Introduction

In this book, I have attempted to illustrate the generational rifts between adult perceptions of clear separations between the physical and virtual worlds and the fluid and integrated physical and virtual worlds of Digitally Empowered Kids (DE Kids) and Digitally Empowered Young Adults (DE Young Adults). As William Golding tried to show us many years ago, society’s rules, if too inflexible or irrelevant, can crumble in situations where children are free to break them. It’s all about how children and adults choose to apply the rules. This means appreciating that children will make thoughtless choices sometimes as they experiment with life and all that it has to offer. I quote the character of Professor Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books at the start of the chapter. He says: “…old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young” (Rowling, 2003, p.728). In this regard, we are guilty if we choose to turn a blind eye to the conflicting tensions between young people’s vulnerability and agency as they grapple with adolescence into adulthood. We are guilty if we forget to have “fun” and engage with DE Kids to redirect some of their confusion. We are guilty if, instead, we make the choice to incarcerate them for their vulnerability, confusion, and imitation of the models adults provide them with.

As the DTL Research and discussion on moral development in Chapter 2 established, children and adolescents want to have fun. They can act impulsively despite being fully aware of the potential consequences. In doing so, they may not always make anticipated ethical choices, even if their particular stage of moral development equips them with the necessary alerts.