When technology can help children

As I sit here typing, I can hear the screams of three 12 yearold boys, "Wait, wait, wait, it's mine! You got it!! Kill that thing, no it's got you! Move over there, no there!! You're dead man! My turn..." These three boys wandered into the same Internet café that I did. I asked for a quiet place to plug in for a few hours during the Winter holidays, but instead shared my "quiet" with three boys that had a "day to kill" (as one of them explained to me, they had no school over the holidays, so they "hang" here). As I watch them, clearly enjoying their day of Internet gaming, it reminds me yet again that technology for these boys can be a social, motivating, and fun experience. Of course I have to wonder...Are they learning? Are their experiences violent? Can this be good for them? Is technology really necessary? These are all questions that gaming has always raised for me. But what this chance Internet café encounter did remind me of was how important technology can be for young people.