You know, some days, I decide within myself that every kid who would come under my care as mine, would be exposed to gadgets early, and by some level of supervision, the digital space.
On other days, I'm so certain that I would want the kids to attain a certain level both of age and maturity/understanding before they use any gadgets.
Some days, I'm grateful for technology. Other days, I feel like it's doing a little too much, and I don't need it as much as I may think that I do.
Only days ago, I went online to check and confirm the price of the kiddies tablet. I just want to get one for my niece. Some of us, or even most of us, promised that our kids would have childhoods far better than we ever did. And yeah, I didn't own a tablet, and since kids these days do, plus I find it fancy since there's tons that they could be occupied with there? I thought, "My baby girl should have one, too."
And later on, I thought to myself, " what happened to owning toys, playing with other kids, what happened to playing with building blocks and doing all them other games that helps in mental, cognitive, and hands-on development rather than hand her a phone which I'm sure her parents would be glad to throw on her every single time just so she not only gets off their backs but also so she doesn't run around.
I'm not even sorry to say that going digital changes a lot of things. You have offline communication and relationships, not just being a bore but becoming increasingly difficult to kick up and maintain.
I get this heady feeling from using gadgets. I should tell you that I got worse with reading and with writing once I started doing ebooks. Not to mention that my headspace seems to shrink, and it feels like I'm losing the little creativity that I have, bit by bit. And bruv, I don't even do social media like the average person.
My attention span is now a mess, and I don't think I am as knowledgeable as I would have been tight now if I only leaned less towards digital life.
As a parent, my personal goal to my child would be to make sure that I help them get immersed in the world around them thereby nurturing their curiosity before letting them in the digital space well before they can hardly have an opinion and build their values not based on the contrasting takes online. One thing I have also come to mot like is turning on the TV or putting on shows just to keep a child occupied. Nah, if my child wants to watch something, it has to be meaningful and intentional. Otherwise, there's a lot other fun and developmental activities they could get themselves into.
In a highly digital age as we're in, I think it's
important to raise children who are first and foremost aware of and curious about their surrounding. Theres a lot of wonderful relationships that they can build and the world, especially in the eyes of little ones, is full of magic and wonder, which i wouldn't want them to miss out on taking cognizance of. Little kids have got so many years of their lives to immerse in technology, but these first few years are delicate. My hope is that during this time, they can build skills and habits that will help them navigate technology and the online world thoughtfully and responsibly in the future.
I'm only focusing on kids in the lower ages cause, for me, when any child of mine would have had the freewill to gadget use, i suppose that by the lifestyle that I'd have exposed them to, then they must have developed just the right skills, ethics and emotional ntelligence(very importantly) to navigate the space, and strike as well as to strike a balance between the off- and online worlds.
Thanks for gracing this post.
Greetings!