It is clear that the being a parent today comes with challenges unlike those experienced in prior generations. Children have the exposure to certain technologies that did not exist over a decade ago. Everyone can now send text messages, do “face-time” and a myriad of other activities done via the World Wide Web. In addition, the lingo has changed over the years to what persons are saying in a message to others. Abbreviations such as “IDK,” “SMH,” “TTYL,” “TMI” are just a few of the words that need decoding. Some words share the same abbreviation. For example, “LOL” could mean “laughing out loud,” “little old lady” or “lots of love.” That makes it even more difficult to decode the message that a young adult or child is communicating to another person. I said “child,” as some children as young as six or seven years of age will have an I-phone in their possession. This new language is now ubiquitous, and a parent can either stay ahead or get left behind in terms of being knowledgeable about what their child is actually doing on a daily basis.
The various risks that are proposed in this area are too numerous to mention. One way to mitigate at least some of the risks is to turn off electronic devices and return to the days of eye contact and speaking to each other, using our human voices. This concept needs to be practiced every day with young children. Getting them to open up and talk about their day and what is on their mind is crucial to parents knowing things that may be adversely affecting their child. Children must understand the importance of obedience and transparency. It becomes the responsibility of the parent to demonstrate honesty and truthfulness for both to be practiced inside and outside the home. It is also for parents to enforce consequences for disobedience. There must be clear lines of communication from the parent to indicate what will happen if directives are not followed completely. When social media is cut off for certain periods of time, this allows the parent to take advantage of this time to communicate one-on-one with their child. Unplugging opens the door to develop trust and effective, real-time communication, leading to a better parent-child relationship.
