I wanted to share an email I recently shared with some friends. I plan to follow it up with a recap of a parent workshop we did on this topic.
“Fellow parents of young kids! I’m sure you think about this often as well, but I’ve been asking myself this question a lot lately. “What is it going to be like when our kids have cell phones/iPads/etc? How are we going to enable the good and restrict the bad that comes with it?”
I ran across this kickstarter campaign on a blog I’ve been reading lately. I don’t know them and I’m not giving any money. But I love the concept and it made me think about some things.
First, I realize I constantly have a cell phone in my hand, so from an early age, my girls have seen that modeled. I think they think that the phone is a part of me. When my youngest sees my phone laying around the house, she quickly and urgently brings it to me. “Dad! You’re phone!” As if I’m incomplete without this piece of technology. She’s two! What have I already taught her about life?
Secondly, I need to figure out how to have a “no technology” time in my house. I need to begin to model it now, for their sake, but for mine as well. The same blog where I found the above talks about having a technology basket. Check it out here and let me know what you think.
Finally, I read that cell phone/internet/screen time is coming up more and more in counseling sessions between married couples. I know my wife and I have often made comments towards each other regarding this. It’s not lost on me that I’m typing this on a screen and that many of you may reply to this with an email tagged at the bottom “sent from my iPhone”. Technology is a great tool and it’s here to stay. I just want to make sure I’m using it and it’s not using me.
Just food for thought as we prepare for our future. I’d be curious your thoughts on all this.”
This email brought about some great conversations and I hope it gives you some ideas to begin to interact with your own relationship with technology. For those of you who can join us April 14th. If you can’t make, I will post a recap of what we cover in the seminar. Until then, what, if any, practices does your family have in regards to technology? When it comes to regulation, what’s appropriate to allow and disallow?
