Parenting in the XXI century
I
know that because we are young you may have never thought about having kids.
I’ll go one step further and ask you if you’ve ever thought about being a
parent and bringing up your child? Each of us has grown in a different home and
with different ‘parenting styles’ but in general, we can assume that parents
have always tried to do their best. If you think about having kids, I’m pretty
sure that you would also like to be the best parent in the world and bring up
your child in the best possible way. But the question is, what is the best way
nowadays?
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Technology
is omnipresent. For sure there is no way to avoid it and
we have to accept that fact and pay attention to it. Sometimes even adult
people have problems finding balance between life and technology. We can see families in restaurants and everyone is staring at the
phone. Such behaviors kill true relationships and may become
more harmful to families in the future. Of course, we can’t expect that children
will use their smartphones or computers correctly and healthily if their
parents aren’t a good example. Remember that for your children you are (or at
least you should be) the authority!
Not
only technology may be harmful, but it has great potential and may be very
helpful in children's growth. The only thing that parents have to do is to keep
an eye on it and introduce rigor. Many computer games can develop children's
brains and send their creativity to high levels. There are also many different
apps for smartphones that help to learn. As a parent, you simply have to show
your children how to use technology and to see the difference between real life
and the one on the computer.
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Maybe
some of you think that you will try to protect your children from technology as
long as it will be possible and you won’t have this problem. Trust me that
firstly it’s almost impossible because sooner or later you will give up and to
get 30 minutes of peace you will give your child a smartphone to play a game.
Secondly, in most cases trying to protect children from technology may even give
the opposite effect and that’s why it’s better to introduce your children to
the technology world.
- What is your opinion on kids growing up among modern technologies?
- Have you ever thought about having kids and being a parent?
- Do you have some assumptions which you will try to introduce when being a parent in the future?
I believe that modern technologies aren't problem, but inability to use them. There is many great games/movies/cartoons to develop different skills in children or to explain world to them. But it have to be introduced wisely.
ReplyDeleteFor example - watching movie with kids, while explaining what is going on in the movie, discussing whether what we see is good or bad, what should be done in such situation - we use technology and we spend valuable time with children.
There are great games for tablets and consoles, which develop manual skills, critical thinking, puzzle solving.
But it is parents task to teach children how to use it and how much time children should spend while using different devices.
Yes, I thought about it. As for now I'm observing and making my mind about what I want to treat as a pattern and what as an anti-pattern.
I believe that spending time together is very important, but also sharing responsibilities. We play together, we eat together and we are cleaning the house together - of course, everyone to the best of their abilities.
Thanks for commenting! Great to hear that you share my point of view. You’ve mentioned some great ideas that may be very good steps in becoming ‘modern parents’. I’m also happy that I’m not the only one at a young age that is wondering about parenthood.
DeleteI think a lot of young people think about it, but they don't brag about it. It seems to me that comments like "what do you need an anchor" heard by their friends with similar plans effectively discourage.
DeleteOn the other hand, at a certain age, magically, there are statements like "instead of a dog you should have a child" (sic! I really heard something like that!)
I'd like to say that technologies aren't harmful for young generation as I can't imagine myself without them. But unfortunately I can't, especially about internet. From observations of my siblings and those of my friends I see that very often kids don't recognize cause and effect relationship as internet eliminates the process of learning. Also kids using analogue toys learn how to deduct which helps to memorize the process.
ReplyDeleteI believe there are ways to channel children focus and raise them and educate with technologies but in reality it's challenging and there are lot of tempting distractions.
It would be great to have children and I guess my way to balance the bad influence of technologies on my child would be to teach by example. I'd try to show good sides of using technologies and how not to abuse them.
Thanks for your contribution! I agree with you. Once again we conclude that parenting may be a tough challenge but you’ve mentioned another good way to teach children using technology by examples. I’m glad to hear such a great ideas.
DeleteI can't even imagine me being a father... Sounds like a nightmare for me... 😂 I think I'm not predicted to be parent... About new technologies... it totally depends on the parent, I think that if someone wants to raise a child among technologies, they have the right to do so. And it's not my business.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to have a child someday I would like him to be a good person. (Not very ambitious, but as I told, It is not my thing... 😅)
Oh, I see that we have the opposite point of view in this comment. We aren’t wondering about parental rights to raise children among technology but about good and bad practices in this topic. The most important is that you’re aware that “it’s not your thing” :D
DeleteYes, that's why I don't even try to talk about practices 😅
DeleteI think that children nowadays learn from an early age how to use technology and it can be said that this is a "natural" exploration of the world around them. I think that parents' task is to show possibilities offered by technology, introduce tools and control how they are used by their kids. When it comes to parenting planning, I prefer not to speak on such private matters, but I think the most important thing is to give children a sense of security and support their passions and talents.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. I agree with you and share your opinion that parents have to confront this fact and handle it.
DeleteI think that replacing parenting with "modern" technology won't be a good approach today and won't be a good one in years. It's good to have extensions to learn kids, to use technology as addon in parenting, but only as an addon.
ReplyDeleteI've started thinking about being parent but it's still for me a distant future and not really got into this topic.
If I'll have children one day I think that I'll try to do everything to spend more time with them and help to develop their passions. I think that are the most important things for children at this time.
I believe that in the near future there will be no possibility to replace parents with anything. Good to hear that although parenthood is distant for you, you can think about it and imagine yourself spending more time with children for example.
DeleteThe ability to use technology is an important life skill that we all have to improve every day (it changes so quickly). The benefits of using modern tools for children, if used in a moderate and appropriate way, can be immense! I thought about having kids many times - creating a new life is a fascinating skill, but it’s also a huge responsibility…so maybe later;). Someday, if everything goes the way I’m hoping, I’ll do my best to make my child open-minded, brave person. Children imitate their parents' behavior, so daily self improvement and being a good role model seem like a reasonable assumption.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! I agree with you that technology is very helpful but only when used in a good way. Otherwise, it may be harmful.
DeleteFor kids growing up among today's technologies there are as many opportunities as dangers. Children can use this tech to boarden their minds, develop passions, entertain, be in touch with their friends and so on... In my opinion the way that kids use modern technologies depends on their parents. They should show and teach their kids how to use it properly. Also during the school education kids should be taught about technology. Unfortunately all we know that IT education (for example in primary school) is very poor.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think about having kids, but definetely not now ;) As Dominik said - I'm observing different ways of bringing up children. However, I wish my kids would absorb modern technologies wisely. I wish they would know what makes positive affects on them and be aware of all danger provided by tech.
In my opinion it depends on the age of the child. Recently I saw a kid who is 4 years old and watched fairytales and stupid movies on YouTube all the time. I think it’s not creative enough and dangerous, because you never know what your child can find on the internet. When the child is older parents should show them creative pages on the telephone or show how they can do various interesting things, also relevant for their future in ‘the real world’.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about being a parent because I feel too young for it. When you become a parent, your current mode changes 180 degrees. I'm not ready for this
What is your opinion on kids growing up among modern technologies?
ReplyDeleteNon of that questions ain't easy to answer - I think that it's almost impossible to separate the kids from modern technologies (I know few of my older folks who still trying) but at the other hand attitude - "let it be" - scares the :) out of me. I think that some kind of mixture of old fashioned activities and well filtered nowdays gadgets.
Have you ever thought about having kids and being a parent?
Yes, I have.:)
Do you have some assumptions which you will try to introduce when being a parent in the future?
Some time ago I heard from colleague of mine that having kids is longest and hardest "project" ever with no guarantee that at the end you won't fail so I think that reality might verifies assumptions.
I have to agree that those questions aren’t easy but in adult life we have to deal with tough topics almost every time. That’s true that reality will verify assumptions but we have to plan it somehow ;)
DeleteIn my opinion, raising children had more potential in the past. The past allowed for more creativity of parents. Nowadays we resort to many solutions that do not fully create the ambitions of children. The technology and possibilities the world offers us impair the thinking of children and many parents.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have often thought about having children, but nowadays it is a challenge for many of us.
As a parent in the future, I would like to raise my children according to how my parents raised me. I would like to spend a lot of my free time with them. I know it will be a big challenge for me as a parent, but I will try my best to do it.
In my opinion kids growing up among modern technologies is a kind of a challange. The key, I think, is to maintain the balance between the time kids spend with technological gadgets and the time they spend e.g. outdoors. However I am completly aware of the importance of the presence of technology in everone's lives, whether children or adults. I haven't tought about becoming a parent yet.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely need to learn how to introduce children to the world of technology. This is one of the challenges our parents didn't have to deal with. Yes, I have thought about being a parent many times. I think that a good family life is one of the most important areas to care for in life. In the future, I would like to find as much time as possible that I could spend with my family. I think that if it is neglected once, then it is very difficult to rebuild it. Therefore, from the beginning, I would try to build a deep relationship with my children.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. I’m glad to hear that you share my point of view and I’m very happy to hear that my collegues are thinking about setting up families in future because it’s becoming rare thing. People nowadays have different priorities.
DeleteThe world is moving all the time, nowadays technology is almost everywhere. It is difficult to avoid contact with it. I assume that children must be properly introduced in the use of technology, no parent should keep children away from things like a smartphone, notebook, etc. Instead, they should learn about the proper use of technology in children's education. There are many applications that can help. Playing basketball all day is not healthy either. It is important to have time proportions for all activities and to teach children how to manage their daily time for different activities.
ReplyDeleteHaving children is a huge responsibility and everyone should remember that. How a child enters adult life depends on childhood and parenthood.
I think it's alright if kids grow up amond modern technologies but parents should make sure it's used in correct way and they don't use it as a way to get rid of the kid if it's bored, which happens very often.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've thought about about being parent but since it's not going to happen soon, I try not to think too much about it. World is probably going to change a lot before I have my own kids so I don't think I should plan how to raise them at the moment.
For now I think I'll just try to make him good and hard-working person by creating some opportunities to do good and be a good example for him.
I think that kids should grow up among technologies but only when it is in a correct way. We can't fool ourselves that it is a bad thing, because it is not. Let's be honest technology is nowadays in every sector of our lives and it developes in so many different ways. Thanks to that kids can even find something that interests them in their young age. Of course I agree that giving them a free hand with let's say smartphones is not a great thing since it is a common problem in families that they are more interested in scrolling through facebook than in their own family life. My friends parents have a kid which is around 12 and they didn't give her a phone so she started feeling antisocial because all of her friends had them and they were texting, calling each other and having fun while she was feeling left out and I don't think that kids should feel like that.
ReplyDeleteI haven't thought about having kids since the first thing I want is to graduate collage and prepare a good living for them. For now I am struggling with a very needing dog which is driving me crazy so I don't even know if I having a kids is a good idea since they are for sure much more demanding. ;D
Wow! Thanks for your complex comment. Once again we agree that technology may be helpful but preparing children and introducing them into the technological world must be done properly. Otherwise technology may be harmful and destroy children creativity etc.
DeleteI observe, that technology has become so widely present, that's
ReplyDeleteit virtually impossible to exist without it. Most likely every
generation is different from each other and has a different attitude
and life approach.I think, that my generation was one of the first,
that became fully accustomed to devices, unlike many older people,
who still prefare to stick to the older solutions.
Currently I still have not thought about having a family and kids, it does seem like a distant subject to me.
Thanks for your comment. You’ve mentioned good point that it’s almost impossible to exist without technology.
DeleteModern technologies are just great, but growing up among them can be dangerous. Parents, teachers and all the people who have some sort of contact with children are responsible for showing them how to use modern technologies properly and for informing about all dangers.
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't yet, thus I believe that this shows that I'm not ready for being a parent at this time.
I guess that I'll try to limit access to new technologies, depending on the age of my children and try to be a role model in terms of using the Internet, smartphone, etc.
Being a mommy must be wonderful and also very demanding at the same time. If I may meet the right man on my way - I suppose so. I think this is unavoidable, I would't like to isolate a child from technology but to dose it reasonably. I will show to my children to learn the foundations of respect and care for themselves and other people. I would like to teach them how to experience the world of nature. How raspberries taste and how pleasant it is to walk barefoot on the green grass. How warm the sea is in July and how delightful it is to walk in the mountain valleys.
ReplyDeleteNow is hard to raise children and I’m so afraid how it will look like when I will be father… to be honest I don’t think that technology is guilty for this situation. Nowadays children don’t read books, play board games. It’s parents fault of this situation. They want to have time for themselves not invest it in children’s development. I saw it many times. Parents give phone or tablet with game or movie and forget about child for some time. My plan is to spend with my child as much time as possible. I know this is all about attitude.
ReplyDeleteToday's parents are living in a very different world than the one their own parents grew up. Today’s kids are a lot smarter than we or our parents were at their age. Oftentimes parents are influenced by their environment and trends. Good parenting requires a lot of problem-solving , so nowadays parents have access to a lot of different platforms, applications, games and many other services which would be helpful in raising a child..
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think about my future children and I believe that I would be a good father :)
I think that nowadays we just can't avoid raising children without technology. Important thing is to use it wisely and support children in dealing with it. Parents mostly give kids smartphones or turn on TV for them just to have some minutes of peace, but when they have teenagers in home they try to ban every activity which include technology. I think the most important thing is to BE in children's life and just spend time with them. Then technology won't be a problem. Of course, I have thought about having children, but first I want to reach some goals I set. To be honest, I just want to be a good father for them in the future and just love them.
ReplyDeleteWhile the society develops, technology is getting more present in our lives then ever before. Ipods, Ipads, Laptops, we have started to surround ourselves with multiple screens and its getting worse. Most of us had a different start, in more "quiet" times, we have been gradually absorbing changes and upgrading our lifestyles while keeping balance between real life and internet, but what about kids growing up in age of "living in the internet". Nowadays parents must make sure that their children wont get sucked up in this amazing but fake world and wont be addicted to it.
ReplyDelete