Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
I read an great article this week which discussed a new study polling parents with children aged up to six years old. The results of this polling had some interesting discussion points. One of which was that the majority of parents felt that their phone was the most helpful tool in raising their children. Furthermore, 43% of these parents have “no idea” how people raised children before smartphones. You can read the full article for yourself here.
The article got me thinking, how difficult would it be for modern parents to raise their children without technology? How has technology changed the way we parent?
Technology and Parenting
Nowadays, technology and parenting seem to go hand in hand. Whether it be use of smart TVs, smartphones, tablet devices, apps or even baby monitors. Whatever it may be, the majority of parents will turn to technology at some point. Technology can be used to entertain your child, capture memories or even aid in keeping them safe.
Even if you are a parent who likes to avoid the use of technology, it is difficult to avoid it filtering into your child’s life at some point. Many schools nowadays implement the use of technology in the classroom. This could be through smart whiteboards, use of laptops or with many schools now using tablet devices to aid learning.
Therefore, a complete removal of technology from a child’s life is very difficult to achieve and in all likelihood, will impact their IT literacy moving forward. A literacy that will be needed in their lives in an increasingly tech based world.
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Growing Up Without Technology
When I was growing up, technology was only just starting to ramp up in its use and availability for parents. For example, not may children had mobile phones at the ages children do today. I didn’t have a mobile phone until around the age of 13. Therefore, when I would go out and see friends, my parents would only have a rough idea of where I was and what I was doing. They had no immediate way of contacting me. This would be a terrifying thought for many modern day parents!
Even going back to when I was a baby, baby monitors were audio only. Many parents today are accustomed to being able to see and hear their baby from anywhere. Many now have apps linking the camera to their phones. Therefore, the idea of only being able to hear noises from your baby and not being able to see them, could be quite anxiety inducing!
The list of differences between modern day parenting and the generations past can go on and on!
How Do Parents Use Technology With Their Children Today?
The availability of different technologies to support parents in raising their children is staggering. From sophisticated baby monitors, apps to support with feeding, toys with technology to help children sleep. All alongside the mainstream and popular items like tablet devices and smartphones. I even saw an app today that states it can analyse a baby’s cry.
I have a three year old daughter and whilst we aren’t the biggest users of technology, when I think about the different technologies she is exposed to, the list is rather long! She doesn’t have her own phone or tablet device. But even so she is rather adept at using our phones when she pinches them from us! Children can adapt and learn how to use different technologies very quickly. Even at nursery they use touch screen TVs to play games and complete puzzles.
As parents, there are a countless number of apps/devices available to aid us in raising children. Even just having a smartphone gives us access to countless pages of advice, tips and strategies online. Whenever you have a question or problem, type it in a search engine and you immediately have 14,000,000 answers. Therefore, it can be very difficult to not become reliant on technology playing a supportive role in our parenting styles.
Has Technology Changed How We Parent?
With the wide availability of technology for parents, the question could be asked…has technology changed the way we parent our children?
I asked this very question with my work colleagues this week. As we had compared stories of going out with our friends when we were kids. We were allowed to travel far and wide without having a phone and parents having no means of contacting us. This was the norm at the time and parents had no real issue with it. So long as you were back home by a certain time. However, with our own children today, this may never be allowed to happen. “Have you got your phone?” usually being the last question parents ask when their children leave the home.
Furthermore, with younger children especially, phones and tablet devices can provide immediate stimulation to a fussy or upset child. It is not uncommon to see children playing on such devices when out in public with the family, as it can be quick way to bring calm or quiet. Previously, children may have had to bring themselves out of these fussy periods, or more onus would be placed on parents to interact and calm their child down.
Therefore, I don’t think it would unreasonable to say that technology has taken away some of the responsibility that perhaps parents of the past would have had. Modern parents are now able to rely on technology to help keep their children safe, keep them occupied or obtain immediate advice and support. All are things that parents of older generations would not have had the luxury of.
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Do We Over Rely On Technology?
The article above noted that 43% of parents today have no idea how children were raised prior to smartphones. Would this suggest that we have moved into a period of over reliance on technology? Are modern day parents now more risk averse and more inclined to use technology as a first step, rather than their own skills as a parent? Are parenting skills being lost with each generation that passes, as technology takes a more and more prominent role?
The answer…well it depends on who you ask.
Ask older generations of parents and I am sure they would have loved to have had some of the technology available today. However, some would also say that it has gone too far and that they would prefer to do things themselves, as this is what they know. Whereas a lot of modern day parents, as we have found out in the article above, can’t understand how children were raised without technologies. However, they now have more capacity to keep their children safe and can be more aware of the risks children can face.
Ultimately, the path towards technology in parenting is going to continue regardless. How each family utilises technology will be up to them. It can be an incredibly useful tool that benefits both children and parents. However, never lose sight of the importance of your role as a parent.
Share your thoughts, stories, opinions below in the comments!
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It’s interesting to see the progression of technology and how it is used in various ways, including parenting. There are certainly some pros and cons so I can see how newer parents might rely on it as it has become more of a norm. I don’t have children myself, but I’d like to read more about how tech is used in this way!