We are looking for your opinion
We are looking for your opinion
To be honest, we feel a bit lost & disconnected with the world of technology & kids. When we were kids, we didn’t have access to wireless anything, we had to use the ‘home’ phone to call our friends & definitely needed permission before doing so.
If we wanted to talk to our mates, it normally had to wait for school tomorrow & organising a sleepover was a tactical mission of verbal communication & discussion with our parents.
Having rules about technology seems important to us as parents. The knowledge we have about phones, computers, & the internet, pales in comparison to the youth of today, which includes our children!
They know the shortcuts, the loopholes, the ‘cheats’ when it comes to outwitting us on technology devices. They can have unlimited access to worldwide news, events, disturbing images, all in the click of one or two buttons.
So, right now, rules it must be. Boundaries about their use, the time spent ‘playing’ on them, ensuring material is age-appropropriate, providing supervision & discussion, encouraging them to play outside, & burn some energy.
We started to question if we are the minority when we found ourselves sitting at breakfast & watching every child play on a iPad or a phone. Are our expectations that our children can sit with us, talk & interact, while they wait for a meal, outdated?
We understand that we can’t outrun this, that at some point, greater access to technology & the world is inevitable. And that’s our current conundrum … when do we allow this transition to start? And where does it stop?
What’s your opinion … ?
- What age is it ok for a child or a teenager to have their own phone? An android? An iPad?
- How do you encourage verbal interaction & engagement in your home?
- What rules do you have for time limits? Data usage?
- When is it ok for them to have their own message account to contact their friends?
- When is supervision of technology use no longer required to be stringent?
- How much is too much?
Alright, we are looking for your opinion … 3,2,1 Go!
T&Cxx