While technology-facilitated our lives, parents often complain about how difficult it is to deal with children in the digital age. We use the Internet and digital devices more and more with almost everything from education to entertainment to shopping in the digital world. However, we have also begun to realize its adverse effects, particularly on children, with the increasing use of digital technology.
Parents began to be worried about children’s digital attachment. They are concerned that they do not have much control over the information their children have access to. How it affects them. The people they engage in on social media, and what they are exposed to on the Internet. Most parents report that they are helpless, worried, and frustrated.
However, not everything is lost. Parents can still turn the ship around by being innovative and using digital technology to help them in their efforts, or, in other words, by becoming a Digital Parent. Let’s read on to know how to do that.
Who Is Digital Parent?
In today’s digital era, moms and dads have to learn new forms of parenting. Digital techniques are used by parents to assist them in many ways, including apps such as WhatsApp, video-calls, or social media pursuits for children. Doing all this makes it possible for parents to stand alongside their children in the digital world and shape their development through technology. Such parent(s) can appropriately be termed digital parent(s) and their parenting technique is called digital parenting.
Need For Digital Parenting
Children are exposed to technology both inside and outside the home with the increasing use of technology. This makes it quite familiar and comfortable to use digital devices for the majority of children in the present generation. The adeptness of children using technology should nevertheless not make parents blind to the dangers that lurk on the Internet. This is one of the convincing reasons why parents also have to get to know technology and the developments in the digital world.
Adverse Effects Of Digital Technology
1. Make them cyberbullying victims
Although social media contributes to creating relationships and sharing ideas, it often offers itself numerous wrong practices, usually bullying. A lot of children who are active users of social media are troubled by unfortunate comments about posts, photographic mockery, social media criticisms, etc. Sadly, while a child may have all these issues, their parents may not even be aware of the problems that they face.
2. Destroy productive time
Spending more time on smartphones or other apps keeps children from discovering the excitement of learning through experience. Attachment to the Internet also ensures that children lose track of time, stopping them from handling their time well.
3. This leads to unintended sexting and watching porn
A lot of teens who talk via social media end up having sexting with others. Sometimes, often, children mistakenly click on pop-ups and ads that lead them to pornographic pages, and they get addicted to porn. Smartphones and the popularity of the Internet have contributed to a major rise in porn viewing in recent times.
4. Exhibits them to online gambling and illegal substances
While shopping is an enjoyable and relaxing experience, many people enjoy illegal activity on the internet, such as selling illegal substances or gambling online. Inadvertently, children will contact these people, causing them great psychological stress, financial loss to parents, and a disturbance of family harmony.
Parenting Tips To Avoid The adverse Effect Of Digital Technology
1. Learn about the safe use of the Internet
Parents should learn about different techniques for understanding the dangers it might pose and learn about preventive measures such as parental controls to protect the child from unwanted exposure to unwanted people or content. In order to handle your child’s online experience, all major operating systems, searchable devices, cell phone providers, and gaming platforms provide free and cheap parental controls.
2. Have open channels of communication with children
Parents should start a discussion with their children in order to try to understand why they feel drawn to digital platforms.
3. Build trust & give some space
Transparency is a must, particularly with teenagers.
Give them space for (healthy) risk experiments so they can develop a capacity to rapidly recover from trouble. Be so nice to your children so that they are free to share with you dangers and online hazards such as cyberbullying etc. As parents, if necessary, you should interfere or find a way to combat hazards.
4. Set common ground rules for everyone
Before parents allow their kids to use devices and connect to the internet, a list of dos and don’ts should be prepared. For example, limiting use to one hour a day, and no use during meals and bedtime. Parents should also have consequences in complying with the rules for violating the laws, such as losing their right to use.
5. Preach what you practice
Children learn a lot from their parents’ observations. Doing stuff like chatting on the phone during meals, checking the phone frequently while your child shares anything with you, or taking selfies during family time can convey the wrong message to your child. As parents, we must overcome the desire of frequently engaging with the screen and modeling good digital behavior. To instill good digital habits in your child, be a digital role model.
6. Use Parental Controls
Needless to say, there is content on the Internet that you don’t want your kids to stumble over or use apps & games when they sleep or watch adult or irrelevant content online.
With parental checks and parenting apps, you’ll find all the above tips at good digital parenting.
7. Educate yourself on the latest technologies
Parents have confidence in their understanding of digital devices, social media, apps, games, and their ability to help support their children at all ages to provide a positive online experience.
– An online search for something that you do not comprehend and update.
– Use apps, games, websites, social media platforms, etc. for yourself.
These are a few tips to become a digital parent in this digital era.
Technology is a very important part of our lives, and we can not stop using digital tools, but our children must be shielded from the negative consequences of technology. The balanced and wise use of technology is the key to safeguarding and enabling our children to share the experience.
Also Read: Growing Up In The Digital Age
