Almost every day we are seeing new ways to engage children with technology in the classroom and in the home. These technologies are meant to entertain, educate, and take care of children. We are seeing smartwatches for children’s schedules, children’s tablets and child-safe tablet cases. There are stories of electronics being used in schools or being banned from schools.
With these new topics and objects come people that think technology is taking over parenting. They think that kids need real attention and parenting, and not electronics to parent them.
Even though this is a strong argument that people claim, giving children technology if possible is not harmful at the least and beneficial at best.
Our generation is one with tons of technology. People my age have grown up with electronics and technology our entire lives.
Children are living in a world full of new technologies and it’s something that is becoming a vital skill for schools, workplaces, and social life. Technology isn’t always accessible for everyone, but having resources and opportunities to work with technology is really important for children to stay on track with their peers.
It’s not that strange to think that parents have been using the best resources out there for generations to raise there kids and this stuff happens to be the best we have right now. There was a time when books were considered sinful and something that younger people were doing more often instead of talking with their parents or playing outside. There was a time when mothers or both parents working were considered bad parents because there wouldn’t be someone to take care of the kids. Of course, despite these things, children were okay and changing their technologies to electronics won’t hinder that.
These technologies are also revolutionary for children that may have higher needs or are more visual learners. Children may respond better to these technologies than the resources they would normally be provided with.
In schools, we sometimes hear of schools banning many electronics and technologies, but some schools embrace them and let the students use phones and computers in school. Instead of training students to work with resources that they won’t be using later in their lives and are becoming outdated in our world, allowing students to use technology they are used to will make it easier for them, as well as help them acquire newer skills that will help them in their studies and research later on in school. It will also help them in familiarizing themselves with electronics they may use in their jobs or in order to keep social interaction.
It's true that children, like everyone, need social interaction. Parents shouldn’t be completely ignoring their children, and I don’t advise parents using technology themselves while they leave their children to their own devises, but children using technology does not mean they are lazy or uneducated. It certainly doesn’t mean their parents are too lazy to raise them. Their parents are providing for them a resource that is entertaining, but also helps them engage with school, peers, and the world.
