Naptime Blog

The new generation does not know life without cell ph0ones, Blackberries, I-Pods, DVRs, WI-Fi, Bluetooth and more.  As a matter of fact, even adults often wonder how we survived years ago without all of these things.  But we did, and we did it well.  As children, we would play outside and make up games, socialize with the neighborhood children, use our noggins.  The children of today use their noggins in quite a different way.  My eight year old knows more about computers than my Mom does.  She can wire a DVD player and play movies for her younger brothers but my Dad cannot.  It is amazing what the advancements in technology are allowing us to do.  But are there negatives to innovation when it comes to our children?

Technology and Literacy: Adversely related?

One mom recently posed the question: If children are texting and messaging on social networking sites with all of these acronyms and shorthand lingo, will this affect their grammar and vocabulary as well as writing ability?

As a family therapist and a mother, my perspective remains the same for this as it does for many other issues…  As a parent, we have a duty and responsibility to teach our children and to enforce the importance of education.  While the styles and methods of teaching (also due to the advancements in technology and keeping up with current times) may have changed from when we were students, proper English has not changed, nor has the content of what children will learn in school changed.  School curriculums have not changed, nor will they… your child will be learning the proper way to write, the correct grammatical formats and weekly spelling tests continue. So as long as our children are in school and as long as we as parents are stressing the importance of staying in school and studying to learn, they will be fine.  We need to be aware as parents how the child is doing in school.  We as parents need to be sure we are monitoring their progress.

With all the advancements of today, children (and adults) seem to be moving at a speed we’ve never moved before.  We can send information in the blink of an eye.  We can find out information just as quickly.   The negative to that is that kids always seem to need to do something: watching television/movies, texting, surfing the internet, playing video games; and children often report boredom when they are not. In keeping with the generation, adults need to be a little more creative in order to keep them motivated and keep them learning. Many adults have found ways to do this.  Moving with technology, some teachers are using computers and cell phones in a positive way with the students: emailing assignments, having notes/information available for the students online, utilizing text messaging and/or social media sites to remind students of assignments, keeping parents engaged with emails and text messages.  I recently read Read Between the Lines:  A Humorous Guide to Texting with Simplicity and Style by Shawn Marie Edgington.  The author discusses some teachers are even using special software where teen students can text in questions during class– helping those who wouldn’t normally raise their hands, keeping some questions and comments anonymous to the other students, and engaging children more effectively because they can relate better.  I’d be curious to see how these classes are doing with grades/standardized test scores as compared to classes that are just utilizing traditional means of learning such as the chalkboard and notebooks.  Certainly studies will be done soon on this!

Rude or respectful?

I am a happy Blackberry owner, and the age of technology has shaped my career and the way I run my day.  I am able to work from home and stay with my children as I work for an online mother’s website because of advanced technology.  I can take my daughter to her dentist appointment without missing an important email.  I can hold conference calls while feeding my infant and giving the twins Cheerios.  I can run around the corner to get milk at the deli and not miss that important message that says my meeting was changed from 9am to noon. 

With all the demands of work and life, I have also become guilty of reaching for my Blackberry when I hear the notification of a new email, even at the most inopportune of times.  I have sat at dinner with family and replied to a text from one of my discussion leaders who was having a problem on the forum and needed my assistance.  And while the advanced technology worked wonders for my job, I was rude for interrupting dinner to move my thumbs and reply to something that arguably could have waited until after dinner.

As an adult, I know that there is a time and place for everything, and although I use the excuse “this is all part of my job”, I must admit it gets a little addicting.  I recognize this and know I need to utilize by phone/computer at more appropriate times.  As a mother, I recognize I better adjust this fast, because my children are very quick learners.  My husband and I went out to dinner not too long ago and across the room I saw a family eating their dinner: a mother and father and a little girl of about seven or eight years of age.  The girl was sitting at the table with her Nintendo DS while the parents ordered dinner.  What was striking was that every time I looked across the room, the little girl was still playing with her DS, even while the family was eating dinner.  I found this totally inappropriate, and commented so to my husband.  Since my children were infants we always sat down to eat dinner as a family, often with the baby at the table in his bouncy seat while the rest of us ate.  We always wanted to teach our children the importance of this family time and the respect to sit together, eat together and hold a family conversation regularly.  Although this is not possible for every family due to life demands of work and school, I wholeheartedly believe that every family should set aside at least one day per week to eat as a family, and there should be no video games, telephones, or other distractions.  Therefore, I have begun to make a conscious effort to remain respectful to my family and leave the emails and texts until after dinner.

Technology is moving at the speed of light (I believe that phrase was already used before in a commercial!) and the current generation is moving just as quickly.  If we utilize these advances positively and make the best of today’s lifestyles, there is no need to compromise our children’s intelligence, positive behaviors and habits, and we can all advance with technology together.

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (4 months)www.nevaland.com