The landscape of the world today is vastly different from when I was growing up. Having a viewport to the internet in your pocket has changed the game. In my adolescent years the internet hadn’t really come of age, and for those that would argue, it’s access wasn’t nearly as ambiguous as it is now. Technology in general is a requirement today, how to interface, operate, and fundamental concepts will dictate your personal and professional life.
With its prevalence we must do everything we can to make sure that our children have every advantage as they grow, which means introducing them to technology so that they can succeed in the world as we can only imagine it will be when they reach adulthood. Being an IT professional means that I have an affinity for technology. I used to say I am the purveyor of all things cool in the world of tech. I’d like to think that I still am, though there are some boundaries to what I can obtain which leads me to make more careful considerations on what I purchase.
Pulling back to the parenting theme; We as parents have a role in our child’s life that is more impactful that we can fathom. We are the ones responsible for the introduction of technology to our children, and with it the internet. As powerful as it can be I think a base level of understanding needs to be in place before ever setting a child loose on the internet. It can be a great learning opportunity, but it can also be the first step down a slippery slope or even downright dangerous.
Consider this; There are lots of things in the average home to drink. You’ve got water, milk, juice, alcohol, etc. Sure, you immediately dismiss alcohol as an option, but do you limit the amount of juice you give to your kid? Milk? Water? What if you give them Juice too often? It isn’t inherently bad, but have you seen a child deny water in favor of juice? This is curating the content that your child consumes. Basic interacting with the internet and technology is similar. There needs to be a balance in place so that basic skills and learning techniques are still present.
With that analogy in place just how much internet are you willing to just blindly hand over to your child? Let’s face it here, there’s some applications you can get for mobile that are educational, but they are the beginning of the avalanche. How long before the application becomes boring? Now on to Netflix, or YouTube, or any other of content delivery networks? While trying to understand how I should introduce technology into my son’s life, I had to take a few more steps back to appreciate where my understanding of it came from.
Largely technology and the ambiguity of the internet have lead many to take it for granted. It has become my realization that more and more people don’t understand where we came from. What did we do before the smartphone? What did we do before the internet was always on? I really think that missing out on physically reading a book, writing things down on paper, or interacting face-to-face with someone is incredibly detrimental to a developing child.
I think it’s tough to appreciate an always on fast internet connection without knowing what it’s like to have to tie up a phone line for it. It’s difficult to understand the pathways that have opened because we can transfer data across the globe in seconds rather than days. This is not to say that I will subject my son to a decade of internet at the painfully slow 56k (or worse). But I want him to know how to talk to people, how to read a book, and how to write. Additionally, I want him to be able to learn at will and not rely on an internet connection. If all goes according to plan the light I’ll have to tell him to turn off in the middle of the night will be a flashlight, not a smartphone or tablet.
What I am trying to convey here, is I want to give my son, at the very least, a Cliff’s Notes version of technology history before introducing him to all that the internet and technology has to offer, because I want him to understand how powerful of a tool it can be.