zombie parenting
Caring for a child nowadays is a complicated affair.
In olden times (pre-1995, before the Internet exploded), parents didn’t have to worry about finding their children in front of the family computer, playing video games like this:
wake up and smell the coffee, dad
Lesson learned: I am putting parental control software on my computer.
Right now.
Or at least, right after I post this.
How do we navigate this new world with our children, one that’s filled with new technologies, new gadgets? A world that’s impossible to keep track of, let alone master? One where kids are texting, tweeting, tumbling and facebooking? Cyberbullying and sexting?
As parents, we remember when kids didn’t have cell phones or the Internet. But our kids don’t. Since we didn’t grow up in such a high tech world, and we’re the first generation to experience it as parents, how should we best guide our children through it all?
I guess that is the eternal question of parenting though, right? As soon as we master navigating our kids through this new technological universe, something new will pop up that will flummox us…again…for the moment, anyway. Until we find the parental control software for THAT.
Great topic. The answer in my estimation is the same as it has always been in parenting; vigilance and education. I was raised by a single mom who made sure that my brothers and I were always involved in activites or sports, keeping our free time to screw off to a miminum. I try to do the same for my kids. The more time spent playing hockey, baseball, swimming, whatever, is less time they have for the laptop, facebook, COD-Black Ops.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Stay on top of your kids, know what they are doing. Educate yourself about their world, understand it, and operate within it. One thing is for sure, especially with the teens; the second you show them that you like what they like, it will no longer be ‘cool’. “Hey son, just posted something real funny on your FB Wall!” He’ll never go on it again!
hi Phil — Thanks for reading my blog and for the comment. It’s true that we need to stay vigilant as you say on what are kids are doing: knowing (and controlling) what our children eat, read, play, who they hang out with, etc. are all part of the never-ending job and thankless job of parenting. The challenge is (as you well know) — how do we stay current and on top of it all? It’s tough for us to do this in our adult lives, technology and the applications it spawns change so quickly. One of my friends insists on staying in the room when her son is on the computer; I think I’ll do the same, even with the parental control software in place!
Yeah I know. Against my better judgment, number 1 son ( he is 14) got a laptop for Xmas. I just try to check his history and hope it is innocnet enough or that he is not savvy enough to delete it. The computer ky kids used was in a common area so there was not secreting away to do, ‘whatever’ they do. Now he has it in his room under the covers! Yeesh!We just have to stay on them and keep talking to them. It drives them batty but…
Parenting is, in my opinion, the only real full time job that matters.
there should be prosecution for putting out such an offensive game, scary,
I remember my father and mother being afraid of what the craziness of rock and roll would do to their children. i think the best thing to teach a child is judgement, making good choices, because everything good and bad is coming at “em.
good post
hey Sheila – I’m afraid that this is pretty mild compared to what’s out there. Thanks for reading!
Phil: yes it is: full-time, ’round-the-clock, and unpaid!