Digital technology and smart devices are a normal part of life today. While they offer many benefits, do we typically use them in a way that is beneficial?
Parents need to evaluate the role digital technology plays in their homes. Do smartphones and other devices actually benefit your family? Or do they bring unwanted and unnecessary complications?
Why Parents Need to Evaluate the Role Digital Technology Plays in the Home
As more and more inventions are birthed out of the digital age and more and more social media apps are created for smartphones, the 21st-century child-rearing experience is really becoming challenging. It can be argued that parenting today is more challenging, and certainly more complicated, than any other time in world history. Since so many of us have now bought the culturally-induced lie that “busyness” is actually an indicator of our significance and self-worth, digital technology in the lives of our kids has forced us to realize our limitations. We have to be discerning and wise enough to understand our times and then be brave and proactive enough to know what to do—just like the Sons of Issachar did in 2 Chronicles 12:32. This is especially important for Christian parents.
Our culture says we can “have it all,” but something has to give. When we finally realize that “having it all” is a myth and decide that we need to trim some of the fat out of our lives to maintain sanity and preserve our family’s well-being, we may actually come to the conclusion that swapping smartphones for flip phones is the easiest, wisest, and safest option—for our kids anyway. This idea might not be popular with our kids, our kids’ friends, the parents of our kids’ friends, our friends, or most of the church. But just like like how parents are told to put on the oxygen mask first in the case of an airline emergency, I think parents need to think about putting themselves in self-preservation mode a bit more at home—again, not just to save themselves, but ultimately, to save their kids.
For some parents, this may mean cutting work hours or coming home from work entirely. Maybe it means cutting back on other extra-curricular activities like sports and hobbies. But when I consider the science, the stats, the news, and just the world around us, it seems to me that how parents and kids interact with digital technology is the first thing that needs to be re-evaluated. This tends to be where the greatest degree of “fat” actually exists—figuratively and literally. And in this fat, there is a tremendous amount of poison.
So if you are looking for areas of your life that are adding extra stress and complication, take a look at the role digital technology plays in your family. Digital technology might be a useful, necessary, and, “normal” part of life today, but it also comes with plenty of risks—especially for kids. It is time to take a step back, ignore popular opinion, and create boundaries for using digital technology in your home. For ideas about how to create a better environment for safe and appropriate digital technology, check out my 10 Tough Tech Tips.
Picture provided by: kaboompics