3 Lessons for Parenting in the Digital Age

In today’s digital age, the smartphone has replaced the pacifier – every time a child cries, their parents hand them their iPhones.

This change in environment means that parents have to use different techniques to reach out to their children.

Here are 3 suggestions to parent appropriately for the digital age.

1. Technology no longer has boundaries

The most fundamental lesson that parents have to take note is that they cannot fight technology. The widespread of it has made it such that keeping their previous framework of thought is impractical.

Before, kids had limitations on when they could indulge in their digital fixes. They had to go to the arcade or wait for the weekend before their parents would give them the password to their PCs.

Nowadays, most kids as young as 11 have smart phones or game devices. Being connected is always an option and they exercise it lavishly.

According to Nielson, adult U.S mobile users send an average of 357 texts per month and an average of 204 calls. Teens, however, are sending or receiving an average of 3,339 texts a month.

Parents need to acknowledge that they cannot completely bar it, but learn how to work with it.

2. Know when to cut it off

A 2009 Kaiser study reported that youths aged 8 – 18 engage with media an average 7.5 hours per day. So spending a lot of time in front of their laptops is normal. It is even beneficial.

Video games are a good way for your child to develop coordination and dexterity. It also exercises their problem-solving abilities and helps them think creatively.

However, parents need to know when enough is enough.

Multiple studies have given various ‘optimum’ screen time but the best judgment you can use is your own.

A good gauge is when you think your child’s obsession with their devices is stopping them from functioning normally. If your child’s grades are slipping, he’s avoiding face to face time with friends or not getting out to exercise, that’s a good enough indicator to start putting some restrictions.

3. The difference between addiction and preference

There is a huge difference between enjoying the Internet and being obsessed with it.

A child may enjoy playing videogames more than going outside and playing with friends because he’s a more indoors-y person. He can put down his device without much problem, but would prefer to spend more time with it if given the chance.

An addiction is when a child cannot live without their devices. They take on behaviors similar to addicts who haven’t had their fix – they feel anxious, moody and cranky if they’re not connected 24/7. And this is happening a lot today.

38% of surveyed college students said that they couldn’t last 10 minutes without switching on some electronic device. The Second Annual Cisco Connected World Technology Report found that more than half of nearly 3,000 respondents ranked the Internet as important as food, water and even air.

An overreliance on technology can deter a child from living a balanced and fulfilling life. So, it is important to teach children that technology is good, but that it shouldn’t rule their lives.

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