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Parenting in the Digital Age
Parenting has always been complex, it requires the parent to find the balance between various factors of parenting such as, nurturing, discipline and guidance. The technological advancements in the world and the popularization of social media has put a spanner in the process of classical parenting. With the introduction of technology in children’s lives, it has introduced new challenges for parents to tackle, which requires them to assess their old methods and accommodate the potential benefits and risks of the internet when trying to raise children in the digital age.
One of the biggest traits of the internet is the access to never-ending information, this information also has its own pros and cons. With children gaining access to the internet fairly early in comparison to other older generations, they have unsupervised access to information. On one hand, the internet can be a powerful tool that could help children in potentially performing better at educational tasks by offering them access to a lot of information that can help them improve their learning. On the other hand, the unregulated and unsupervised access to the internet can expose children to inappropriate content, misinformation, and potentially harmful people. Parents must therefore play an active role in monitoring their children’s internet usage and educating them about online safety.
The most dangerous usage on the internet is the presence of a social media profile, this makes private information about an individual open for everyone with access to the internet to see. Social media presence also has a lot of cons, especially when it comes to the abundance of influencers who share knowledge without being reliable and studied sources of information. The teachings from said influencers could be used as a way to spread misinformation about a group of people or a particular health related topic. This new found power and influence could be used to spread hate and socially attack someone, this occurrence is more common than you think and the majority of the followers of said harmful influencers are children who are easily influenced.
Parents need to be aware about their children’s social media activity, they also need to establish open communication and setting clear boundaries with their children to make sure their children are being safe and responsible when accessing the internet. In addition to the previously mentioned challenges, the digital age also offers parents new tools and resources to help them in their parenting journey. There are numerous apps and online forums that are created to support parents, that provide parents with resources that help them gain knowledge about the internet and how they can help manage their child’s activity such as, instructions to parental control software and online parenting communities. These resources can help parents stay informed and connected, offering support and advice from a wider community of parents and experts. Parents must ensure that they do not break the bond of trust between them and their children and also ensure that they do not take away their privacy and autonomy.