Parenting in the Digital Age

We use the circle shape in various creative games for preschoolers. We focus on the fun side and leave the notions of geometry on the second place. For a preschooler it is important to learn how to get a circle and how to use it in various activities.



Source: gadget-time.com

Parents should be comfortable with parental controls on digital devices.



Using various parental controls available in the market, parents can monitor how much time their children are spending on particular apps or games. With a little exploration, parents would discover that they can:
- Set time restrictions on entertainment apps or games;
- Restrict access to the Internet;
- Specify bedtimes or mealtimes when devices would have Internet access turned off;
- Require the child to obtain parental approval before installing apps on the device.

Many parents I have met are delighted to learn of these functions and cannot wait to get home to flex their newfound technological muscles, but I must implore parents to remember our role: “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

We are to train them to discern right from wrong. More than just having our children obey the rules we set, we need to teach them strong biblical foundations.

If your child is old enough to understand, I would strongly encourage parents to co-create house rules for the use of digital devices in such a way that the whole family comes under the leading and admonition of the Lord.

Source: biblical-parenting.org

Parents of young children today are overwhelmed. Online, every minute, a new study comes out, an article is forwarded — all sharing ways to properly raise children. So how does a new parent tread this world of parenting information overload? Child rearing in the digital age



Being experts in the homeschooling and early childhood education community, as well as authors of the Kidstarter Curious Curriculum (the first locally created preschool program for home or supplemental use), we would like to share essential realities that can benefit you and your children.

The greatest investment: Build the relationship

Use your time, talent, and resources wisely as you build the relationship! Think in terms of stocks and shares. The proper investment includes knowing how to parent effectively through love languages, setting boundaries, instilling discipline, and engaging in positive communication. Self-care for parents is also valuable so they can be the best versions of themselves and be the kind of people they would like their children to be!

On a more practical level, an American educator, Rita Pierson, warned that children will not learn from people they do not like. A parent-child relationship bound by love, grace, and forgiveness, characterized by a genuine fondness for each other, becomes the glue that allows the passing of values, beliefs, and lessons in life. Remember, the closer the relationship is, the greater the influence.

Source smartparenting.com.ph

I'm going to put my cards on the table and say that I'm definitely not a 'curling parent'. And if ever I was, I'm definitely not anymore...



I have three boys – 8, 5 and 3 – all very independent in their own right with one perhaps being a bit more ‘demanding’ than the others. We don’t and never have ‘child-proofed’ our home. OK, we don’t leave knives lying around the place or the fireguard off the fireplace, but we’ve never used a stair gate, we’ve never put covers on plug sockets and we’ve never bubble wrapped a coffee table.

I say this in jest of course and as a parent, I protect my kids as best I can but there are always going to be times and situations when I can’t protect them and I accept that. All I can do is equip them the best I can, so that they can protect themselves the best they can.

So what, you might ask, is a ‘curling parent’? Danish psychologist Bent Hougaard coined the term "Curling Parents" to refer to those parents who try to sweep away all obstacles in their offspring's path so that their child can go through life without the slightest bump. They continually make sure that nothing is interfering with or negatively affecting their child.

It’s a somewhat regimented and directed parenting style with the goal of protecting the physical and mental well-being of the child. But what’s wrong with that? Well, the downside is that parents are unconsciously at risk of stifling the child. What they are doing is potentially curtailing their children’s chance of developing essential life skills and feelings of personal responsibility and achievement.

Source rte.ie

The Sydney eSafety 2019 conference saw policy makers, researchers and practitioners from different fields and countries come together to discuss how to improve children’s digital lives. Our presentation on Global Kids Online (GKO) provided a foretaste of our 11 country comparative findings report, and the insights gleaned from an independent evaluation report of GKO impact in our partner countries. Both reports will be published in the coming few months – watch this space.



GKO, an international research effort bringing together LSE, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, EU Kids Online, and multiple partners around the world, aims to:
- Create a global network of researchers/ experts and build national capacity;
- Understand children’s digital experiences and outcomes in all their individual and contextual diversity;
- Contribute to the evidence base for policy makers and practitioners to strengthen children’s rights in the digital age, maximizing their opportunities to benefit while minimizing risk of harm.

Working across multiple countries is challenging, especially as culturally-diverse conditions in the global South shape the experiences of the majority of children now online. For instance, while in the global North we make a series of assumptions about the context in which children go online, these may be invalid in the global South, where community values and parenting practices are important in distinctive ways, where digital devices are often shared in highly unequal ways, and where children’s online lives are “mobile first” or “mobile only.”

Our research toolkit (see video) seeks to balance cross-national comparability with contextual adaptation. And our impact toolkit seeks to ensure that the resulting findings reach policy makers effectively. We have just finished analysing the data from 14,733 children aged 9-17 who use the internet were surveyed using the Global Kids Online methodology, together with one of their parents, between 2016-2018, in 11 countries across four different regions.

Source: globalkidsonline.net

In an era where data privacy is getting further and further out of reach for adults, the digital native generation has convinced parents of the right to privacy on their social media, text, and phone communications. Gone are the days of the carpool drop offs where teens talked freely in the backseat while a parent casually looked for clues or make sure things were socially on track for their children.



The days of the family LAN line where you had an idea of who was calling the house are a forgotten memory. This generation feels a sense of entitlement to privacy online from parents, but is freely giving away their digital footprint to companies and peers which the in turn use to manipulate them. Targeted advertising, engaging videos tailored to their specific fears, and the distribution of naked photos of each other are common place and happening right under the noses of parents who don’t know how or where to look.

Xennials are the generation of digital immigrants, writing the rule book for parenting in the digital age. They got this tech when we were young enough to adopt it, but old enough to have some judgement about what information is private. The current generation is being raised on free porn with no age gates, pressure to create their online brand in elementary school, and parents who are addicted to their own phones.

The digital immigrant generation is still reeling from identity theft, credit agencies being hacked, and a loss of control. The newest generations of tech users think live streaming naked with random strangers is a fun dare for a middle school slumber party. We have never had more distance between two generations on the value of privacy.

Source pedimom.com