Disconnect Day
Sounds like a great idea doesn't it! I think we need to bring this day forward into our lives. If you are a Millennium baby...please take this seriously and while you are raising your own babies keep in mind the importance of living, seeing, breathing and exploring the wonderful world around you. Our world is too tech happy. We are spending too much time on social media and most jobs are based around computers. Not that there is anything wrong with this evolving world, I love the internet, I am obsessed with Youtube and Twitter and Instagram are my vises for relaxation. Not to mention my blogging. Its how I can be creative and do the things I like to do, it helps with keeping myself mentally stimulated.
Lets be honest here..we have 10 years old walking around with cell phones, kids are texting, chatting, instagramming and facebooking daily. Who is allowing this?? Parents!
Its easy to get caught up in the whole "well, Sarah has a cell phone, or John has facebook".."why can't I have those things? I'm the only one in my class without a cell phone"....
We've all heard some aspect of those complaints through the years, and with it being our generation of parents we over enduldged our kids. Our Generation X as we are called are the the last generation to have truly low-tech childhoods, and now we are amoung the first of the truly high-tech parents.
We are the only generation to have experienced both worlds, pre-technology and post technology. We had childhoods spent outside, coming in when the street lights went on. We had the classic John Hughes teenage years, finding who we are during Saturday morning Breakfast club detentions. Now a days kids can have full on relationships over text messages, long gone are the days when we passed notes to one another. Do you like me? Please check the YES box or the NO box.
I do worry what a high-tech childhood will mean for kids these days. Will they know how to go out on a first date without checking in on Facebook or instagraming their OOTD? Will it even matter?
I do understand this is our childrens world, and they do have to understand all the highways and biways of technology. I do not believe there may even be a "right" way to parent with technology.
We can try as hard as we want to cut back and etch space into our childrens lives for treehouses, dollhouses and sunset playdates. But in the end reality is our children will grow up with the world at their fingertips, elegantly presented by any touch screen.
They will have to learn how to balance between their cyber and real worlds. It is kinda scary not knowing what this generation of ichildren are going to grow up and become. I suppose since we are all parenting the best we can in a world that we are unfamiliar with as the children we once were. When our kids are grown, we can't be blamed for the possible mistakes...cause we didn't have the guidance, we did the best we could.
So, back to Disconnect Day... this is never too late to start. If we start this now, it may be something our teenage children will take into their families. Take a day that's good for your family, and disconnect. Get rid of the cell phones, computers, tablets and ipods and spend sometime together as a family. Get out doors, it doesn't cost money to have a pic nic, go to the park, throw a ball around. Take a drive, go to the beach..go skating, tobogganing.
Do those things we did as children, let them experience staying outside until the streetlights come on. Good ol'fashion game of road hockey, we don't see that as much anymore.
It is so important to disconnect from the world. Remember when there was the days we could retreat to our bedroooms, turn on our radio's listen to our favorite bands. Pullout our sticker books, lipgloss collections and diary's...that was our time to unwind, to disconnect from friends, parents, teachers and siblings. It was important to us then, we need to teach our children to do the same. They don't withdrawal to their rooms at the end of the day to sit on their beds and reflect. They turn on their devices and log in too their "cyber" worlds and check in on everyone else...teach them to check in on themselves. We don't want a lost generation...living their lives through screens. Look up kids, look around...theres a whole world out there to be explored. GO LIVE~
Sounds like a great idea doesn't it! I think we need to bring this day forward into our lives. If you are a Millennium baby...please take this seriously and while you are raising your own babies keep in mind the importance of living, seeing, breathing and exploring the wonderful world around you. Our world is too tech happy. We are spending too much time on social media and most jobs are based around computers. Not that there is anything wrong with this evolving world, I love the internet, I am obsessed with Youtube and Twitter and Instagram are my vises for relaxation. Not to mention my blogging. Its how I can be creative and do the things I like to do, it helps with keeping myself mentally stimulated.
Lets be honest here..we have 10 years old walking around with cell phones, kids are texting, chatting, instagramming and facebooking daily. Who is allowing this?? Parents!
Its easy to get caught up in the whole "well, Sarah has a cell phone, or John has facebook".."why can't I have those things? I'm the only one in my class without a cell phone"....
We've all heard some aspect of those complaints through the years, and with it being our generation of parents we over enduldged our kids. Our Generation X as we are called are the the last generation to have truly low-tech childhoods, and now we are amoung the first of the truly high-tech parents.
We are the only generation to have experienced both worlds, pre-technology and post technology. We had childhoods spent outside, coming in when the street lights went on. We had the classic John Hughes teenage years, finding who we are during Saturday morning Breakfast club detentions. Now a days kids can have full on relationships over text messages, long gone are the days when we passed notes to one another. Do you like me? Please check the YES box or the NO box.
I do worry what a high-tech childhood will mean for kids these days. Will they know how to go out on a first date without checking in on Facebook or instagraming their OOTD? Will it even matter?
I do understand this is our childrens world, and they do have to understand all the highways and biways of technology. I do not believe there may even be a "right" way to parent with technology.
We can try as hard as we want to cut back and etch space into our childrens lives for treehouses, dollhouses and sunset playdates. But in the end reality is our children will grow up with the world at their fingertips, elegantly presented by any touch screen.
They will have to learn how to balance between their cyber and real worlds. It is kinda scary not knowing what this generation of ichildren are going to grow up and become. I suppose since we are all parenting the best we can in a world that we are unfamiliar with as the children we once were. When our kids are grown, we can't be blamed for the possible mistakes...cause we didn't have the guidance, we did the best we could.
So, back to Disconnect Day... this is never too late to start. If we start this now, it may be something our teenage children will take into their families. Take a day that's good for your family, and disconnect. Get rid of the cell phones, computers, tablets and ipods and spend sometime together as a family. Get out doors, it doesn't cost money to have a pic nic, go to the park, throw a ball around. Take a drive, go to the beach..go skating, tobogganing.
Do those things we did as children, let them experience staying outside until the streetlights come on. Good ol'fashion game of road hockey, we don't see that as much anymore.
It is so important to disconnect from the world. Remember when there was the days we could retreat to our bedroooms, turn on our radio's listen to our favorite bands. Pullout our sticker books, lipgloss collections and diary's...that was our time to unwind, to disconnect from friends, parents, teachers and siblings. It was important to us then, we need to teach our children to do the same. They don't withdrawal to their rooms at the end of the day to sit on their beds and reflect. They turn on their devices and log in too their "cyber" worlds and check in on everyone else...teach them to check in on themselves. We don't want a lost generation...living their lives through screens. Look up kids, look around...theres a whole world out there to be explored. GO LIVE~
I absolutely agree Chrissy!!
ReplyDeleteWel said! I agree completely
ReplyDelete