Congratulations to all of the parents today! You are likely the last to Generation of parents to be astride the line of “Back in my Day” and the world of technology. You grew up in an age where not everyone had a cell phone, only started to use email during college and even so continued to write your pin-pal, spent time doing research in the library, and actually had to spend time with someone face to face in order to develop a friendship. In contrast, you’ve become well versed at using technology and all of its wonders of today. You not only have a cell phone, but it provides you access to the World Wide Web at the swipe of a finger, you likely have an “App” that keeps track of something for you (calories, spending, home shopping lists, etc.), and your kids have only ever known this second, technology driven part of your life. Yes, that’s right. All future generations of parents will have been immersed in the world of innovative technology that just keeps getting smaller from the day they were born. Their “back in the day” will be about how a Terabyte was all that could fit on a flash-drive and how they had to wait for a YouTube Video to buffer/load. As an American Parent straddling this interesting line of human history, you probably face many of the common First World Parenting Problems, but technology probably takes the gold for the trickiest parenting challenge, right up there with infant sleep and potty training in regards to the desperate and hopelessness feelings it can conjure up. Between figuring out how much screen time to allow at what age and then managing that screen time and protecting your children from the copious amounts of material to be found online against what school may require be done on a computer, you might just toss a blank coin in the air and go with it or look heavily into the Amish lifestyle – you wouldn’t be the first. Even if you are looking into an Amish lifestyle, it is important to recognize that technology is a driving force in today’ world and ultimately, your goal as a parent is to give your child the best possible chance as they step out into the real world and hope that they are able to become productive members of society and eventually provide you with grandchildren for you to spoil and buy noisy toys for. The Physicians at Anchorage Pediatric Group agree with the American Academy of Pediatrics that screen time should be very limited and for young, healthy, developing brains of children and stress that there should be ZERO Screen Time before the age of 2. Develop a “Media Diet” - A healthy approach to children’s media use which should both minimize potential health risks and foster appropriate and positive media use. This includes television, phones, game consoles, iPads, etc. Place curfews on technology, just like bedtime, and keep screens out of the bedroom. If you have older children, be sure to include them when developing this diet – they’ll know better than you what is required of them through school alone. Everything in Moderation.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 19:13:32 +0000
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