How Can Parents Tackle Modern Technology in 2018?

Modern parents face struggles their parents and grandparents did not need to address thanks to the increasing integration of new technologies in everyday life. Staying ahead of your children when it comes to technology and new media may seem overwhelming, especially when there always seems to be a new issue to discuss. From taking inappropriately sexy selfies and sharing them over Snapchat to staying up all night to play Minecraft and learning to eat Tide Pods by watching insane YouTube videos, consider a few of the tips below to get control of your children’s technology usage in 2018.

The Best Technology Resolutions For Families in 2018

Take the time to learn about a media or tech item your child truly enjoys.

          Children tend to retreat further into their technological worlds when you do not make an effort to learn what they enjoy doing. If you catch your mind starting to wander while they go over the latest mod in Starcraft, Minecraft, or another video game they play regularly, try to catch yourself and pay attention before they realize.

          Understand that your child wants to tell you about that hilarious meme, interesting new application or game, or ask you to watch what they think is a cool YouTube video because they care about you and your opinion. Their wanting to share is a sign that you still have a strong relationship and they want to know what you think. Use this to your advantage to get to know your children better and to exercise some influence over their media and technology choices.

Sit down and share suitable YouTube videos with one another.

           As more and more children turn to YouTube for entertainment, the many people posting videos become greater influencers in your child’s life than even you. Take a look at your news feed on social media sites. How many of the posts include videos? Probably most of them. Videos have become a very popular method of sharing information on the internet and your children will encounter tons of potentially harmful information while they peruse the internet.

          Take at least one day a week to sit down with your child(ren) and share some fun, thought-provoking, or education videos with them. You can find thousands of useful videos that will teach them about anything from how to bake a cake to managing their emotions. The point is to encourage your child to watch videos similar to the kinds you would prefer them to watch and steer them away from ones that could negatively impact them.

Making a device-free dinner more engaging.

          Kids nowadays prefer to be constantly entertained. So sitting down to dinner without a smartphone or tablet can be challenging. If you do not already have a device-free night designated, implementing one may be met with some resistance, but not if you come up with some fun conversation ideas to discuss during dinner.

          Save the stressful talks about chores, work, or school for after dinner and come up with some engaging conversation starters like the game where you say two truths and a lie and they have to figure out which one is the lie, come up with fun, hypothetical situations like what they would do if they won the lottery, etc.

Start a family book club.

          Children who read on a regular basis have been scientifically proven to do better in school. They also learn how to focus for longer periods of time than video and other games allow. Encourage your children to read more by starting a family book club where you read together and discuss what you have read.

          Choose from books at your local library, ask them to bring a book home from their school library, or pick up some new books. Often you can find conversation starters and book discussion guides online to help you get started. 

Practice what you preach.

          You children emulate what you do. If you spend all your free time staring at your smartphone or on your laptop, your children will see that and copy you. When you practice what you preach by turning off your electronics at a certain time every day or for a full day once a week, it sends the message that you can set boundaries for yourself and stick to them. They also respect your requests more since you do not seem like a hypocrite.