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How do we set a good example for our kids and students with technology? This questions seems to be of greater importance every year…and every year it seems more difficult to answer.
Have you ever found yourself driving in the car with your child only to have them ask to use your phone? This happens to me almost every time I drive my daughter. Most times I say no, or try to distract her, but occasionally I give in. What I don’t say is “sorry I don’t have the phone,” because I always do. I’m hopefully not using it to text or check email, but occasionally I am. I also might be using it to change to different Pandora stations. All these tasks distract me, and are things I would never want my daughter Hattie to do when she’s 16.
“If you put away your phone and play with your little sister after school, we’ll get you a new iPhone this Christmas…If you stop taking heroin for the month, we’ll get you a bag of meth.”
As a school administrator parents call me and ask “how can I pull my kids away from their technology?” The answer is remarkably easy but also incredibly difficult; look at your families tech use as a whole. How do you all spend time together? Do the tech rules apply to you too? Tech as an award seems to be the most common thread from family to family.
“If you get all As, we’ll buy you an new Xbox.”
“If you put away your phone and play with your little sister after school, we’ll get you a new iPhone this Christmas.”
“If you stop taking heroin for the month, we’ll get you a bag of meth.”
Ok, that last one I made up, but I think you get my point.
They’re tools. I get it, but they also require a little training and overall care. Of course, this is coming from the man who sits at a desk with a computer, iPad, and phone within arms length.
I love the video attached to this post. I found it a few years back. Before I moved back to the US, and before I had a iPhone. At the time I could sense the wave of tech that would come once I reentered American culture. It’s a great reminder to think about how we manage our time and where we put our focus.
So this is all to say:
When was the last time you set and followed your own tech rules?
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