Bridging The Tech Divide (NAPSA)—According to a recent Nielsen report, if you’re like most Americans, you spend 11 hours a day with electronic media. For teenagers and young adults, the numbersarelikely even higher. Data from Pew Research indicate that mobile Internet access is even more common among American teens than adults. People are increasingly con- nected digitally—andit’s altering the way welive. As a report published by the University of Michigan puts it, “The fabric of real communities in American life is slowly being rebuilt with virtual threads in online communities. Today, our individual identities exist within two types of communities—the physical and the virtual. Our desire for connection sets up our media experiences in today’s world as proxies for ‘community,’ providing the depth of experience and interpersonal connections we crave.” The United States Department of State says, however, “Technolo- gies can facilitate social change, but not create it. People are still in the driver’s seat.” Exploring the effects of technology and how families and individuals deal with them is an insightful new movie called “Men, Women & Children.” Academy Award-nominated director Jason Reitman’s film follows a group of teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate their relationships in an era of social media and online exchanges. A provocative snapshot The movie “Men, Women & Children” explores the effects of technology on modern relationships. of modern life, “Men, Women & Children” holds a mirror up to our society and poses thought-provoking questions about whether technology is indeed bringing the world closer together or driving us farther apart. “This film clearly reflects the complexities of our relationship to technology and how that affects our relationships with one another,” said Dr. Larry Rosen, an internationally recognized expert in the psychology of technology and author of five books on the topic, including his latest, “iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming Its Hold On Us.” “As the film shows, technology can, in fact, help bring people together. But by not choosing to miss out on their virtual social world, many people are missing out on the real social world that’s in front of them.” “Men, Women & Children”is available on Blu-ray, Digital and On Demandandstars Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, Ansel Elgort, Kaitlyn Dever and Rosemarie DeWitt.
