Quote:
Originally posted by kath@Feb 23 2005, 05:19 PM
Fortunately they are involved in local clubs/groups on a regular basis - and do have a few friends in-state that they talk to on the phone and visit on weekends - so they have "real" friends and not just "virtual" ones.
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Kath, interesting you brought that up. Here is the amazon.com description of
Bowling Alone
"Once we bowled in leagues, usually after work -- but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change that Robert Putnam has identified in this brilliant volume, Bowling Alone, which The Economist hailed as "a prodigious achievement."
Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans' changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures -- whether they be PTA, church, or political parties -- have disintegrated. Until the publication of this groundbreaking work, no one had so deftly diagnosed the harm that these broken bonds have wreaked on our physical and civic health, nor had anyone exalted their fundamental power in creating a society that is happy, healthy, and safe."