There is a challenge hidden in the publicity, excitement and enthusiasm that is created when the technological geniuses give birth to an even better computer, an even faster communication system, or an even smaller machine to fit into the living room. The challenge is whether or not the integrity of the home can be maintained. The electronic baby is born, and in many cases it has been brought home. Can it be incorporated in a way that will enrich us all, or will it demand, in the way that babies often do, 100% attention.
It has been recognised over the past thirty years or so that people cope better with change if they are prepared for it. Couples seek out childbirth classes when they are pregnant, but how many seek help for the birth and integration into the home of the electronic baby? However, some couples are seeking help for problems that stem from the more flexible ways of working that are now possible because of new technology. As more women are working, as less and less security is possible in the work place, as greater and greater demands are made from those in work, the stress of the information society is being seen reflected in peoples' relationships.
Teleworking, or working at home, is being seen by many as an economically and environmentally sound thing to do. A new way of working allowing for more freedom and more flexibility. Since the industrial revolution men have left home early in the morning returning often eight or nine hours later; neither he nor his family have given a passing thought to what the other has been doing all day. During the past fifteen years or so, it has become common-place for women also to leave the house in order to work. The home has become a place where people have gathered after the day's work has been done. But with the move to working from home all this is changing.
For some time Robert and Susan had been arguing about everything. They realised that life had become more stressful since Robert had decided to work from home, but were bewildered as they had both made the decision to take up his company's offer of the opportunity to Telework. They couldn't understand what had gone wrong; it seemed as if there was no emotional space for them to think about what might be the problem, and they also felt humiliated that they weren't coping.
The incident that convinced Robert and Susan that they needed help happened at midnight. Robert had converted the loft space over the garage to an office. The situation that brought them to counselling was that Robert had wandered into his office on his way to bed. There was a fax in the machine from America, and within seconds he was absorbed in it. Susan who was waiting in the bedroom suddenly realised that Robert wasn't in the bathroom and that he was in fact involved with work. She became absolutely furious, they had a terrible fight and unable to resolve it they decided to seek help.
What emerged from their first interview was that they were having to deal with a major life change. The structure and routine of their lives had been completely changed, but there were no guidelines; worse than that no one believed, not even them, that they were having to deal with anything difficult at all. When it was suggested that perhaps they were both finding their new way of life a strain, there was an audible sigh of relief.
This paper began with a challenge to this new way of working. Can working from home be a new way of working or is it going to be an old way of working in a different place and with new technology? Will the home and workplace be able to be integrated or will one try to dominate the other? There is little use in being able to communicate with the world if we cannot hear what those nearest to us are saying.
The Electronic baby is born. We need to pay it attention and to find a way of saying "no" occasionally to the greater and greater possibilities it offers us. We need to help it to find its place in the family. If we don't, it will, like neglected babies do, dominate our lives.
© Pauline Hodson