Children & Tech
Good Morning,
During our Christian Education month, we spent much time teaching on the development of our young people. For a moment, indulge me while I deal with a very unpopular issue – technology!
I heard a news report about the tie between suicide and (of all things) "wi-fi and Bluetooth." Those were the words the news report used! Not a Christian station, a regular radio news team. I went online to search for suicide and the internet, and the articles about the dangers associated with social media and the internet are endless. YOUNG PEOPLE ARE ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE.
Children are feeling defeated and in despair because of "cyberbullying." Well, if the child had no social media presence and carried no cell phone, that would take care of much of that pressure. I also found that the lack of social media "friends" or followers is also a source of depression; the feeling that others have a great life and the youth lives a boring life of home, school, and chores is depressing to him.
When the infinite damage done via porn and 24/7 music is factored into the problem, children are vulnerable beyond words. Most parents just keep paying the phone bill that slowly destroys their child.
In most public schools, having the best phone is a pressure – this is a great reason to place our children in good private schools where phones are not allowed to be out or used. When children get home, have them place their phones in a box; do not allow phones in the child's room. We did this with our last child, right up to college. No "screens" were allowed in his room: no phone, television, tablet, computer, or game system!
I have sent this out before, but Steve Jobs was interviewed and this is one response he gave about his children and tablets: “They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”
Interviewing other tech giants brought about this summary: “They strictly limit their children’s screen time, often banning all gadgets on school nights, and allocating ascetic time limits on weekends."
Chris Anderson, the former editor of Wired and now chief executive of 3D Robotics, a drone maker, has instituted time limits and parental controls on every device in his home. “My kids accuse me and my wife of being fascists and overly concerned about tech, and they say that none of their friends have the same rules,” he said of his five children, ages 6 to 17. “That’s because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it in myself, I don’t want to see that happen to my kids.”
These interviews are a few years old, but I assure you, their views have not changed; those who know the dangers, limit and control devices!
Alex Constantinople, the chief executive of the OutCast Agency, a tech-focused communications and marketing firm, said her youngest son, who is 5, is never allowed to use gadgets during the week, and her older children, ages 10 to 13, are allowed only 30 minutes a day on school nights.
Evan Williams, a founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium, and his wife, Sara Williams, said that in lieu of iPads, their two young boys have hundreds of books (yes, physical ones) that they can pick up and read anytime.
Technology is a terrible babysitter for little ones, a deadly friend for children, and a threat and deceiver of teens. Control technology or exile it to a parent-filled living room, and still control it every minute.
Pastor