Raising Children in an Age of Technology

I know this post is going to be a bit controversial. It's controversial at our house, and I know it must be in so many places b/c I see it happen daily.

A few months ago, Andrew made a comment about seeing me on the computer a lot. I didn't like the idea of him seeing me on the computer and making the comment so I made a change. I still use the computer. I haven't done anything crazy like NOT be on Facebook. I just try to make the most of my day WITH my children and let them know what I'm doing on the computer. I also allow my son (and daughter) to participate with me on the computer as much as I can. Often, I hop on to find information, directions, coupons, write an email or get a lesson plan. I can include them in most of those things.

However, we live in an age where you can look around and almost always see someone talking on their phone or looking at their iPad for some reason. I personally dislike smart phones b/c I think hours can be lost just looking at them. Come on...we all have friends who get a text in the middle of a conversation, or someone looks up something while eating dinner or takes a call while you are visiting with someone. What's worse is that we are raising our children and years are passing by while we "look" at our phones.

What are we teaching our children by doing this? That our technology is more important than they are. Our technology is more important than a lot of things. Our technology has even taken the place of real relationships. We no longer have a need to think for ourselves. We can just pick up our technology and text Mom for the answer to even the simplest of things. We can look up information no matter where we are, and when we are in a predicament, instead of figuring out a way to get ourselves out of predicaments, we call on someone to rescue us.

I've seen this time and time again. Our young people are in danger of falling prey to technology. I've seen this in 20 year olds, I've seen in in teenagers, and I want to figure out a healthy solution to help my children use technology. I don't think it's realistic to grow them up in a technology deprived household. There are so many good uses for technology, but I hope that I can teach them to respect people first and use the good minds that God has given them to be free thinkers before they go rushing to someone else for answers.

If I'm honest, I often forget to pray when someone goes wrong. I also rush to my phone to text my friend about the situation instead of fall to my knees in prayer. I know I need lots of prayer to teach my children, and I need lots of prayer so that I can model the behavior that I want them to have in the area of technology.