Information Availability vs Innocence Lost

As I watched my 6 year old daughter surf the web, looking up information on Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London, it struck me just how different her upbringing would be to my own. She will have the combined knowledge of the majority of modern civilisation at her fingertips. Doubt will last just a few moments until a definitive answer can be sought from Wikipedia or a myriad of other sites. It is hard to argue that this isn't a very good thing indeed.

But then again, some of the traditional ways of finding things out may be lost in the process. Pestering a busy parent (and learning the social skills required to do this without being shouted at) will be much less necessary. Thumbing through reference books and using a bit of lateral thinking about where on earth to even begin finding something out will be skills that are lost. Will we see a generation so dependent on search engines that they will stand around like little lost sheep in the event of a power cut?

And, given the time of year, how long can we keep our children believing in the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas? What a shame it would be if we lost some of the less tangible beauties of childhood.