ETA to add the following: I hope my post doesn't come across as preachy or judgemental. Everyone has their own ways of dealing with these issues (like all issues related to child rearing, or life in general). It is not my intention to hurt the feelings of my friends, or you, my dear readers!
E(further)TA that we are a highly tech-y family. Dad is a media and communications professor, with a penchant for all things Apple. We have MANY devices, and are highly connected, social media-fied etc. We watch TV (after Fina is in bed) and spend way too many hours of our lives online.
It takes lots of time on the internet to learn about and buy outdoor gear for kids and adults! Plus all the reading and learning about homeschooling things, about raising outdoor kids etc. OK, I know, I'm working on it, (kind of). Then this very blog. My constantly posting pics online for our families (try 23snaps.com - it is awesome!). Listening to homeschooling podcasts. All the books I have access to as ebooks. I floss and brush Fina's teeth with her lying on her bed while listening to an audiobook. Fina and I even do evening prayer in bed on the iPad. So when I say "abstinence" I do not mean living off the grid.
I often admire people who say they aren't on Facebook. I have whittled down my FB use to be more for groups and pages and less about what people ate for supper. But I am still constantly using it.
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A good friend shared this link with me about the use of technology with kids. I have heard about this a few times. How parents who work and live in Silicon Valley don't allow their kids to use technology. This article speaks about a Waldorf School in that area. It is an interesting read.
E(further)TA that we are a highly tech-y family. Dad is a media and communications professor, with a penchant for all things Apple. We have MANY devices, and are highly connected, social media-fied etc. We watch TV (after Fina is in bed) and spend way too many hours of our lives online.
It takes lots of time on the internet to learn about and buy outdoor gear for kids and adults! Plus all the reading and learning about homeschooling things, about raising outdoor kids etc. OK, I know, I'm working on it, (kind of). Then this very blog. My constantly posting pics online for our families (try 23snaps.com - it is awesome!). Listening to homeschooling podcasts. All the books I have access to as ebooks. I floss and brush Fina's teeth with her lying on her bed while listening to an audiobook. Fina and I even do evening prayer in bed on the iPad. So when I say "abstinence" I do not mean living off the grid.
I often admire people who say they aren't on Facebook. I have whittled down my FB use to be more for groups and pages and less about what people ate for supper. But I am still constantly using it.
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A good friend shared this link with me about the use of technology with kids. I have heard about this a few times. How parents who work and live in Silicon Valley don't allow their kids to use technology. This article speaks about a Waldorf School in that area. It is an interesting read.
I have often wondered when I'd let Fina on the computer/internet. She is turning 7 and has no desire for it. The article suggests waiting to use the computer until the kids are 12, and no internet at all before the age of 16.
Some people are concerned about raising technologically illiterate adults. I can totally see that having "computer skills" for when you grow up is probably less of an issue than we might think. Technology changes so much anyway. What I learned in computer class in high school (do people today even know what DOS is? Before windows or even a mouse!) is not relevant AT ALL today!
And I do think there is something to the addictive nature of iPads, FB etc. (As I sit here at the computer, writing this blog post! A contradiction, I know.)
I can see that once you start "using," it can spiral out of control. Wanting more and more. Setting limits can be hard. Right now, at least, I feel like abstinence is the way to go for her. And I don't feel that I am depriving her of anything.
Also, we limit screen time of any kind. We have since she was a baby. When she is awake, the tv is off. We watch maybe 2 movies a month with her. Not the highest quality or anything. Just Disney movies, Narnia movies and Narnia BBC mini-series, some old Paddington 5 minute tv episodes, or more recently some BBC Animated Shakespeare episodes!
I don't know. It is hard to do. It does help to surround ourselves with friends who don't watch tv or play video games either. But as she gets older, it might be more of a challenge.
Right now, I am happy that she loves to play outside, and that she loves to play independently. And maybe I am just exceedingly blessed, but she has never once in her life said to me "I'm bored." (I remember my brother and I always saying we were bored to my mom.) Maybe it is just the kind of kid she is. It probably helps that she doesn't watch tv. But I'm not saying that is a magic pill.
(That being said, I am a big proponent of letting them be bored and letting them figure out something to do on their own. I don't try to structure her play. I just tell her to go and figure out something, whether we be inside or outside.) If you get the right group of kids outside together, you will never hear them ask you "what should we do?" And I love that about our group of friends. It is wonderful!
If anything, Fina runs out of time to do the things she wants. The other night, after having played outside for 6 hours after doing school in the morning and having eaten supper, I told her it was time to go to bed. And she was upset because she hadn't gotten to play with Lego and she REALLY WANTED TO PLAY with Lego. There aren't enough hours in the day for her, and I love that!
It always saddens me when we are playing with friends outside who ask to go home because they want to play on the wii or whatever else it is they would rather be doing rather than playing with their friends. It does happen more often than I would think and it always surprises me.
This being said, Fina does use technology in the following ways:
- she does do yoga on youtube
- we do a good amount of Facetime with my family members who live 2500 km away
- we use the iPad for audiobooks (with it closed, not looking at it or manipulating it), though if she has to pause it for something, she knows how to do that and how to swipe, enter my password and start it up again
- Fina will take pics with my iPad
- we use youtube for listening to bird calls and looking up things like that
- I do use ebooks to read to her, even for our school work, and if there are illustrations, I show them to her
- Fina uses the iPad to record herself singing, playing the piano, or reciting Shakespeare. As a hand-held tape recorder replacement
See how much tech we DO use! More than plenty, I'd think.
I am so grateful that Fina's brain is free to explore regular life, rather than already being stuck in the internet / technological life.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I am so grateful that Fina's brain is free to explore regular life, rather than already being stuck in the internet / technological life.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I think you are doing the right thing. As great as technology is we also learn too many horrible things too early and don't learn how to use our brains in a creative way.
ReplyDeleteAnd my concern isn't only related to content (though that is certainly a concern). It is more so currently about just getting addicted to it, and what we would have to cut out in order to allow time for it!
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