Becoming a parent is not easy. There is no manual that teaches you how to be one. It is something you learn as you go. It is why many parents make mistakes. It is why some choose to stay single forever but still, the majority choose to get hitched for life and procreate once they reach adulthood. Adulting is hard it itself but having added responsibilities make the burden even heavier and more challenging to carry out as another human being relies entirely on you and your partner until they become adults themselves and are able to support themselves. The thing is while it is undeniably difficult, being a parent is also one of the most rewarding feelings in this world. Nothing compares to seeing the smile on your child’s face and being called a “mom” or a “dad”.
Unfortunately, modern life hasn’t made parenting any easier. In a sense, it is even worse now that there are plenty of tech-related distractions that captures your young one’s attention that it has significantly changed what parenting is all about today. You can see it all around you. Kids are hooked to gadgets. They are lazier now since they have devices that can do things for them and their attitude is so much different from those of the kids of yesteryears. And modern parents aren’t even any better as they are mostly distracted too and just shove these modern gadgets to their impatient kids.
KIDS’ screen time has skyrocketed, and is now a major battleground between parents and their children.
An exclusive Sunday Mail/Seven News parenting poll of almost 2000 Queensland mums and dads has found managing screen time is now the second highest parenting concern in the state.
Parents say they’re worried the trend is stopping them from communicating with their kids and it’s causing regular family fights.
The third annual parenting survey conducted by Triple P – Positive Parenting Program also found parents are concerned their kids are not eating well and being active.
Triple P founder Matt Sanders said the two concerns were linked and said it was crucial for parents to lead by example.
(Via: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/childrens-screen-time-a-battleground-for-families/3345364/)
It has become a damaging cycle that hurts both the parents and the child because of the abuse of technology yet what can we do when the world we now live in is virtually an online community that is connected through the web. Some parents try their best to not join the bandwagon and put limitations on their kid’s access and use of these devices but it isn’t always that easy to keep it away from them when they can see other kids doing the same thing. Add to that the fact that parents don’t always practice what they preach. If their kids see them doing otherwise, will they also listen to what you tell them to do?
The arguments against screens usually center on how they affect brain development and the ability to focus. Julie’s information about phones mostly comes from her husband, who read Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other before their son was born, which is about the decay of relationships in the digital age. He also tries to keep up with the articles that come out on the subject; he has been especially moved by Jean M. Twenge’s writing about the demise of the first generation raised on smartphones, and Andrew Sullivan’s piece in New York magazine on how he cured his internet addiction with a smartphone-free camp.
But much of the most alarming pieces about phones relies on anecdotes or surveys with unclear causation, like do depressed kids use social media, or does social media make kids depressed? Solid studies on smartphones are hard to find or yield contradictory results. Smartphones are pushing us to “the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades,” writes Twenge, a psychologist.
(Via: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/8/17095582/smartphone-screen-time-parenting-child-development)
It has even created a rift between parents who are undecided regarding screen time for their children. It only goes to show that nothing is by the book until today. While parents are older and ought to be wiser, it does not mean they’ll always do the right thing and agree on a set way of raising their kids. Culture varies and technology continues to play a big role in shaping the world and society that we know of so only time can tell how children parented today turns out to be.
The early exposure to tech devices may work to their advantage since the world is becoming highly digital by the minute. However, there are drawbacks too and kids fail to acquire many life skills and important values that kids before know like the back of their hand but is lost in today’s youth. If you’re not a parent yet, you’d likely be a parent soon so it helps to have background knowledge on issues faced by parents right now so you can make better choices and raise brighter and well-grounded kids whose lives don’t revolve around the gadgets they (and their parents) are using.
