Irish twin for US museum

Irish parents and their children are living in the midst of a technological revolution that has transformed our economy in ways we can see, and transforming our lives in ways that we have hardly begun to understand. Our children's lives may be unrecognisable from our own and, while most of us know we need to grasp the changes, parents often talk about feeling adrift when it comes to nurturing talents for this technology in our children. Usually, our kids are much better at using the equipment than we are and as we watch them entranced by their Gameboy/ Nintendo worlds, we feel a little afraid.

Fundamentally, we know that our job as parents is to nurture our children's senses of ethics, morality and responsibility for the environment - and there's not much room for that on a Gameboy. Wouldn't it be exciting if there existed a fun, family-friendly sanctuary where parents and children could go to learn about information technology together, not for technology and science but for their own sakes; where our children could be inspired to become the engine that drives technology, rather than technology driving them? We are very close to having such a place, thanks to an initiative between the Boston Children's Museum and a group of Irish parents and educators. The Boston Children's Museum is hoping to set up a twin museum in Dublin that would be the most innovative in Europe.

The Taoiseach met recently with Dr Louis B Casagrande, chief executive officer of the Boston Children's Museum, who told The Irish Times that the Taoiseach's reaction was "a very personal and positive response". Dr Casagrande was in Dublin to chair the visionary committee which is guiding the project - a project originally supported by the Southside Partnership in Dun Laoghaire.

The committee's members include Ali Hewson (spouse of Bono), Cathy Kenny (married to broadcaster Pat Kenny) and Pat Dunne, former director of the National Museum and now based at Boston College. They believe that if the Government provides the building, they can get funding and materials for the exhibits from private companies and philanthropists. "This `twin museum concept' has never been done before anywhere in the world," says Orla Kennedy, guiding light behind the initiative. Casagrande adds: "Dublin is the perfect location for us because it is a gateway to Europe, just as Boston is a gateway to the US."

We tend to think of museums as intimidating rooms full of pictures and objects in glass cases where we "look-but-don't-touch". However, the word "museum", in the original Greek, means "place of inspiration". If you've been to the Boston Children's Museum, you know that it's a museum like no other. It likes to think of itself as a "new town square" - completely accessible, affordable and celebrating culture and families. Completely child-centred (even down to the large "family bathrooms" and the McDonald's restaurant on site), the museum offers children aged one to 12 an environment in which to explore.

There is a sensory play area for toddlers as well as more challenging environments for older children. There is an emphasis on multi-cultural experience, with areas devoted to American Indian and Japanese culture. You sit inside a teepee and hear American Indian stories. You "ride" on a Tokyo train carriage and wander through a tiny Japanese apartment. One of the most popular exhibits is the child-sized Latino grocery store, where children get to pick items off the shelves and "scan" them at the check-out, just like in a real supermarket.

The links between technology and culture are not obvious - but learned through play. "We share moral messages with each other through fun and without being didactic," says Casagrande. "Technology lacks clarity of values. Instead we need to be asking how do we make the individual smarter, or society better. Technology is entertainment-driven. We need to grab back the technology by giving children hands-on experience," he says.

An Irish children's museum would grow out of Irish communities, with the participation of parents and community groups. It would celebrate Irish culture and show it off to the world in the midst of encroaching globalisation. Yet it would also embrace the multi-cultural trends which are fast becoming intrinsic to our children's lives, as the Republic experiences an influx of immigrants.

The museum would also be a "national demonstration project for innovative education" in a country where - let's face it - our educational system remains fairly rigid. At the core of it, though, is the child, Casagrande stresses: "Every child has a genius - it's just a matter of helping them find what it is." If we're interested in creating citizens, rather than drones, we need this museum.