My daughter’s selfie with our dog
sel-fie- ˈselfē/
noun informal
noun: selfie; plural noun: selfies; noun: selfy
an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks.
Maybe you’re a perfect parent and your kids never do anything digitally. And, maybe your perfect parenting has paid off, so your kids never act self-centered. Or, maybe you’re a parent like me… and you struggle with your kids having a selfie-centered focus, glued to their glowing screens.
We didn’t let our son have a cell phone until he was 15. We also didn’t allow him to have a Facebook page (ever). And, during the summer, we shut off our DirectTV service so our kids will go outside and do “kid things,” instead of stare at a TV screen.
Um… our kids have found ways around our parental tactics and they hover around screens anyway.
Our son has an i-Phone and our 13-year-old daughter has an i-Pod (no phone service, but she can text, Snapchat, Instagram and more). I’m aware that we could take the kids’ digital devices away; instead, we’ve chosen to set certain limits and boundaries on our kids’ screen access. But, their screens still beckon them daily.
And, that is why I want to tackle the biggest challenge of having children who are a part of the screen-staring generation. Common Sense Media claims “kids today spend over 50 hours of screen time every week.” Research shows this much screen time detracts from our children’s physical, mental and spiritual health. Behind this research lies one, big question: WHAT ARE THE GLOWING SCREENS OF THE DIGITAL WORLD TEACHING OUR KIDS?
Read the rest of the blog at: 1corinthians13parenting.com
Latest posts by Jenny Dean Schmidt (see all)
- Is America Becoming Anti-Motherhood? - March 25, 2023
- My Empty Nest Sadness Ended With This List - August 1, 2021
- There Are Moms Behind Racism and Rioting - June 11, 2020