Forget Washing Dishes Or Sweeping Up; Parents Handing Off Online Chores To Kids

from the now-go-book-us-a-vacation dept

Wed, May 16th 2007 6:33pm — Mike Masnick

For years we've seen stories about how kids tend to do tech support for their parents and other adults when it comes to computer related problems. However, a new article frames that story in a different light, suggesting that parents now give their kids "online chores" to do -- which can sometimes replace traditional household chores like washing the dishes or doing the laundry. The chores can include just about any online action that parents aren't entirely comfortable with -- from booking flights to setting up parties to getting movie listings. In fact, 14% of kids in the study claimed that they actually helped their parents file their tax returns online. This probably isn't particularly surprising, but it is representative of how central to family life computing and the internet has become, that using it is considered a chore like sweeping the hallway.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

21 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Mark, 16 May 2007 @ 7:11pm

Heh
Kids are no longer swiping 10 spots from Dad's wallet, they are signing swiping CC info and ordering shiat from online vendors.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Two first's in a row!, 16 May 2007 @ 7:12pm

Hey, I'll take an online chore over physical labor any day.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 May 2007 @ 7:12pm

Re:
Nevermind, I was late.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 May 2007 @ 7:18pm

Nice setup for those kids...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
RandomThoughts, 16 May 2007 @ 7:22pm

And people wonder why tourism to the Grand Canyon has dropped by %67 while trips to Disney World are booming.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Andy, 16 May 2007 @ 7:52pm

tax returns
Do the kids need to be licensed accountants to help with that? Can the kids help their parents draw up a will using a computer?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 May 2007 @ 8:05pm

re: random thoughts
^^ LOL ^^
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymouse, 16 May 2007 @ 8:07pm

There are numerous free online tax websites that are extremely simple to use. So no, no license required.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
STJ, 16 May 2007 @ 8:45pm

In my day, I had to push a broom up hill both ways!!!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 May 2007 @ 8:46pm

Re: well said
Nice....great post.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 May 2007 @ 9:28pm

Re: tax returns
Do the kids need to be licensed accountants to help with that? Can the kids help their parents draw up a will using a computer?
No, because you're never too young to start building a criminal record.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 May 2007 @ 9:31pm

Re:
There are numerous free online tax websites that are extremely simple to use.
What does that have to do with it?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Noobie parent, 16 May 2007 @ 9:58pm

Hey, I'm a soon-to-be-parent who works in IT. This has got me thinking. In a few years time I can get my kid to rustle up a few pages of code for me while I make sandwiches for their lunchbox - Cool!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
SanDiegoClubs, 16 May 2007 @ 11:25pm

Parents are naturally too lazy to learn tech stuff, and kids are naturally too lazy to do the dishes. Sounds like a fair enough deal to me.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ron Larson (profile), 16 May 2007 @ 11:42pm

I would like to see the Boy & Girl Scouts have a merit badge for tech support. Especially in 2008 when the $40 coupons for digital TV receivers roll out.

It would be great if a clueless senior citizen could schedule a Boy Scout to drop by to get the new digital receiver hooked and working on the old TV. Or a troop could hit their neighborhood over a few weekends in 2008 knocking on doors seeing if people need help switching over.

It could keep the clueless from being scammed into buying TV's or antennas they don't need. And the Scouts could get credit for helping out the public.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Paul`, 16 May 2007 @ 11:58pm

Re:
Maybe because a big hole in the ground really isnt that interesting?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chronno S. Trigger, 17 May 2007 @ 5:43am

Helping out
"from booking flights to setting up parties to getting movie listings..."

to cleaning out the internet history...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Wizard Prang, 17 May 2007 @ 5:59am

Re: Re:
And a people trap operated by a mouse is? :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Celes, 17 May 2007 @ 6:24am

Re:
At first it sounded silly, but now I think you may be on to something. The Scouts would be learning a useful skill (camping is super-fun, but I hardly think I'll ever need to build a fire from scratch out of neccessity), and they're providing a service to the community.

Anyway, it sounds a lot more fun than my Girl Scout troop - we spent more time pushing cookies than actually doing anything. Then again, I guess sales experience could be considered a life skill...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Celes, 17 May 2007 @ 6:28am

Re:
Hey, my dad used to get my mom and me to debug his code while he made dinner and did the dishes. To a kid, especially one who likes computers (and doesn't like dishes), that's a great exchange.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Coaster26, 17 May 2007 @ 1:26pm

I would So rather do anything online than do dishes - and I am an adult.
[ link to this | view in thread ]