New Year, Old Ideas

The more time that younger generations spend on screens, the less exposure they have to decorous, good-old-fashioned interactions

Portrait of Jane Austen, 1873, from the Portrait Gallery of the Perry–Castañeda Library of the University of Texas at Austin. Public Domain

Several weeks ago, my teenage daughter and her friends attended a middle school dance. Junior high social collaborations are a funny thing. Teens and preteens come together to test their moves, look cool, and maybe actually dance with the opposite sex. Though I had been rather sick on the night of the dance and could barely keep my eyes open for a 9 p.m. pickup, I assured my husband that I’d be happy to get the girls. Post-dance car rides are a short but precious period of time. Ah, what a mom might learn.

“How was it?” I inquired casually, as the girls settled into the car.