Indonesia
Being Superparent in Digital Age
In the past, parents worried about telephone usage and television watching by kids. Parents had to monitor the shows that kids watched on TV plus cut down on the telephone time of teenagers. In the digital age, parents have to deal with a whole lot more; toddlers and PC usage, tods and DVDs, preschoolers and tablets, teenagers and smartphone, teenagers and Facebook, etc.
Superparent, technology has changed our expectations of family members and the way we communicate with one another. Increasingly, it takes a social network to raise kids. A generation of social networking natives are raising kids, joining mommy bloggers and parents posting on Twitter. Their kids have gone viral in YouTube videos and Facebook.
Our kids are growing up in a different sort of fishbowl. They are immersed in a world with smartphones, Wiis, iPads and will certainly gain experiences we never had as children. Technology helps kids to know more, to communicate wide and fast, or to solve their own
problem. On the other side, technology also pose harm and danger. It is our instinct to protect our kids and control their environment. And, digital technology makes that almost impossible.
However, we can -and must- help kids navigate this new environment safely. We can -and must- set a good digital example that will enable kids to make the most of the extraordinary creative and learning opportunities that technology makes possible. Living in a digital age, we must give parental guidance to kids. Technology is a wonderful educational learning tool. So it should be used to the best advantage for teaching.
We may reward kids with technology. But at some point, we also should monitor our kids’ online and mobile activities.
TEGUH WAHYU UTOMO
PHOTOS: PHOTOS
