As adults we are connected to the network. It’s always with us and that clearly has enormous benefits.
So it’s not really a surprise that our kids are connected as well.
I know my three kids prefer YouTube to POTV (plain old tv). My 10 year old blogs now. She would rather email than talk on the phone. All three know how to use my blackberry and iphone with ease – they can find the games they like, take photos, txt etc.
Today the New York Times has a story saying this trend is only increasing. No surprise there. And I’m fine that our kids are connected, creating content, sharing links with their friends, learning about things on wikipedia and having fun. All good in my mind.
I’m no preacher and I’m not going to win any awards for best parent of the month and even though I see all the upside in being connected – there are times when you gotta disconnect as well. As adults and our kids. So in our house we just have limits to all of this. The kids only connect to the network on the weekends or for school stuff. Right now that feels good for me & lauren and the kids put up with this (at least for now). Plus they are crazy busy during the week with school, homework and numerous after school activities.
(I think the one stat that threw me for a loop in that NYT article was this stat: 70% of kids have a tv in their room. Oy.)
There a number of things in the NYT piece that attempted to link ‘always-on’ kids and school problems and health issues. But I think that is a head fake. The web isn’t the enemy and it’s not going to ruin our kids. It’s just like anything else with kids. A few simple guidelines and some help goes a long way.