A Touchpoint
How do you feel about Technology?
Technology is here to stay no matter how we feel but one thing I am sure we can all agree on is “how do we navigate its presence in our lives” especially as parents and caregivers. While tech is able to connect us, place information at our fingertips and make work efficient, it also does a great job of capturing and keeping our attention which is where its danger can lie (texting and driving/walking for example) .
During Brazleton touchpoints webinar “Raising Healthy Kids in a Digitized, Commercialized World” Susan Linn, author of “Who’s raising the kids: Big Tech, Big Business and the Lives of Children” and lecturer at Harvard Medical School, stated that being a parent today is harder than it has been in the past, partly due to technologies presence in our lives.
With her previous experience in television (Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood), she offers tips on how parents can promote a balanced relationship with technology:
Carve out screen free times during the day to connect.
2. Offer opportunities for creativity, like art or games not connected to media.
3. Read books and watch thoughtful movies and television shows which are cognitively interactive.
Susan also encourages parents and caregivers to practice awareness of our own use of technology. Because children model what they see, if we start with ourselves we can shape their use of technology.
If you want to learn more about tech’s impact on our minds and bodies, click the link for NPR’s podcast called Body Electric.
So, what are your current tech practices?
Do you have any special rules around technology that you practice at home, if so, what are they?
