What is digital parenting?
Bringing up children has never been easy. In the age of smartphones, tablets, and the Metaverse, the challenges are even more pronounced.
As new and more advanced technologies are coming faster into our everyday lifestyles, making decisions about software, hardware, apps and whether using social media sites is even appropriate to support a child’s development and social interactions is becoming even harder. There have been so many changes and inventions in the last few years, that some parents are finding it hard and challenging to keep up with the new generation of ‘digital natives’. Mark Prensksy, an American writer and speaker on education, often used the term “the generation of people born during or after the rise of digital technologies.”
Children are being introduced to digital devices at an ever-earlier age. Brands such as Amazon have created tablets for preschool children, and many parents are even tempted to buy their children tablets at such a young age. We have also seen young children who will have their daily meals only when watching their favourite cartoon show. All this was before they were faced with the popularity of Minecraft, Anime, and YouTube.
As your children grow up, there will be a craze of sending texts, videos, and images to each other. Just when you think you have managed to keep it under control, social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, which some parents may be familiar with, will appear. There are apps such as TikTok, Tumblr, or House Party, which parents may not even know about but may fear.
The Common Sense Media Census Report of Social Media Usage (2016) finds that about half of kids between the ages of 7 and 12 use some form of social media. This is quite alarming, given that most apps, including YouTube, have an age guideline of 13+.
As a parent, you receive warnings about all kinds of problematic issues, ranging from sexting and cyberbullying to the invasion of privacy or simply the many negative effects of screen time. Parents are often left on their own to deal with it, having been advised of what to do and what not to do, what they’ve learned, and how to apply that knowledge, while at the same time trying to raise a healthy and happy child. So, how do parents support children’s digital lives?
The simple answer is to be a good model yourself. Parents should take pride in how they conduct their own digital lives so that their actions are transferable to their children. We live in an age of information and digital innovation. As a parent and a digital professional, I understand and sympathise with this feeling of being completely overwhelmed with the desire to return to the days we grew up in when there were just no internet or social media websites.
However, returning to the dark old age is no longer an option. Our children are growing up in the digital world and it is our duty as parents to guide them in the right direction. The key is to stay involved in a way that makes your children understand that you respect their privacy and wish to keep them safe.
Source of Article:
The above blog is an excerpt from the ‘A Guide for Parenting in the Digital Age | 数码时代亲子教育指南‘ publication by AISL Academy.
AISL Academy is a global learning professional development platform for educational specialists who will have access to the latest and best practices of pedagogy, professional learning and social development, within an international, interactive and interconnected setting.
