I was digging around on the IGDA Quality of Life forums when I stumbled across this recommended video below relating to how to deal with conflict within a company. What's amazing watching this video is that you'll realize these techniques for conflict resolution are applicable anywhere, not just the work place. Even more so, it got me thinking that a lot of the conflicts within the world and within ourselves also relate strongly to the two basic needs mentioned within this video (at the 15:00 minute mark). That being a need of safety and belonging.
For example, the other day I read a news story about kids getting addicted to online gaming, such as the World of Warcraft. It made me wonder what sense of safety and belonging these kids were getting from these online communities and, at the same time, what sense of safety and belonging they weren't getting offline in the real world (i.e. home, schools, neighborhood, etc). In effect, youth need spaces of their own, to the point they'll create them themselves if necessary, similar to what was mentioned in Dana Boyd's article entitled Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace.
Youth are not creating digital publics to scare parents - they are doing so because they need youth space, a place to gather and see and be seen by peers. Publics are critical to the coming-of-age narrative because they provide the framework for building cultural knowledge. Restricting youth to controlled spaces typically results in rebellion and the destruction of trust. Of course, for a parent, letting go and allowing youth to navigate risks is terrifying. Unfortunately, it's necessary for youth to mature.
