Impact of the Technology Revolution

Impact of the Technology Revolution

By age 6, many children are adept at using the computer. They have become accustomed to watching videos and dictating e-mails to their parents to write to their friends and grandparents. They may see several computers in their homes, plus iPhones and interactive video games. By age 7 to 10, they have learned to type, since reading skills have grown immensely, and because they are surrounded by texting, surfing the web, search engines, Facebook and the like.
Parents have access to their kids' assignments and grades on school websites and have the capability to monitor their children's school work almost intrusively. Parental protective devices have become common on the Internet while their child's sense of parlance with computer devices and potential may way outstrip their parent's knowledge.
Therefore it is important to decide what role you want technology to have in your own and your children's lives. How do you decide? How do you transmit your wishes to your child in an understandable way? When we were kids, and our technology consisted of TVs and sometimes video games, parents restricted the amount of time we spent watching  and chose appropriate, often non-violent or sexual programs and video games. Apply those same restrictions to today's technology, which is more expansive and subject to much less control. Because it is all to easy for our children to be exposed to inappropriate sites and information that you may be unaware of, you cannot just let them use the computer without your regular and frequent supervision. Expand those restrictions to all of their devices.

Start With These Guidelines:

* Encourage and teach your children to use the computer in instructional ways. Help them search for a topic they are learning about in school or in which they have developed their own interest.

* Encourage games that offer thinking skills like puzzles and mystery sequences.

* Avoid, if possible, violent action themes in games and videos that are repetitive and include getting rid of the bad guys. These games do not give your child anything except the interactive comraderie they sometimes generate among friends. Encouraging this cooperativeness is clearly a bonus, bu there are other games and videos that can accomplish that.

* Sit with your child when he searched the web to share interests and learning, but do not act like a private eye.

* If you should visit your child's school website, do so with her so you see together how she is doing and what is expected, rather than to "catch" her skirting responsibilities.


Posted by: Georgie


Credit: Laurie Hollman, PhD, Psychoanalyst and co-parenting divorce specialist.