Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Understand That Your Child Will Know What Makes You Happy
Your child knows what makes you happy and wants to replicate it themselves. If your eyes light up when your spouse comes home, your children will see that this brings you happiness and strive to imitate that when thinking about happiness in their own future. On the other hand, if at the dinner table you find answering your phone more important than being in the present moment with your family, your children may start to believe that it’s okay to ignore people and answer phone calls in the middle of a conversation.
Learn To Embrace Technology
Technology can be a wonderful thing. We are in a time where we can learn anything at our fingertips, and 99% of the time it‘s free! The internet has a lot of downfalls and dangers, but it is important to understand that the internet can also be a means to spread truth, educate and connect people too.
Get In The Game
For you to understand all the risks and rewards of the internet you must adapt and be aware of the latest trends and social media apps your children are using. You don’t have to be on them yourself, but it is important to understand what your kids are spending their time doing – is it safe, beneficial, and valuable to them right now?
It’s Not About Managing Kids
Obviously, there will come times where we must step in as parents, but the idea is not to manage your children online and everything they do. It is to raise them in a way that they can manage themselves and make good choices. At the heart of it, your home is a place for family, love, and compassion, and identifying that those things come first always, before technology, fads, and gadgets, is the first and best example to give your children.
We don’t want technology to be placed up on a pedestal but it’s not about removing technology altogether either. It’s about showing our children what is important in life as early as possible.
This article was inspired by episode #39 of The Parent-Teacher Project entitled Tips For Parenting In A Digital Age with Isabelle Thomas and Andrew Mullins.
Listen to the entire episode below.
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