Parenting Parenting in a digital age
The hormonal changes in girls’ bodies are likely the same for everyone. However, there are changes in every generation in terms of technology and information. When we were young, there was only one movie theatre for entertainment. One movie was released every week. At most, there was a radio.
But the current generation has many TV channels, Korean movies, Japanese movies, and so on. Social media like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are readily available. There is a lot of distraction. Not only distraction, but there is also a lot of opportunity to learn.
When we were young, even a library and newspapers were not readily available. The opportunities to learn were very limited. Books for intellectual development, philosophy, and logical thinking were not easily accessible.
With the availability of the internet, Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia, the opportunity to learn is much greater. Similarly, there is also distraction. Marijuana and alcohol are available. Also, vulgarity in movies has increased.The media has also grown. Pornography and all these things have become very easily accessible.
The children of the current generation, those born after 2010, are using technology extensively. So, it’s no longer possible to tell children, “You don’t know anything; shut up.” They know everything.
Therefore, parents now need to be more educated and have more patience than parents who handled children in the past. It’s not possible to simply scold them, tell them moral stories, or threaten them.
We must give them a chance to speak. In our schools, teachers don’t let them speak; relatives like uncles and aunts don’t let them speak. They just keep teaching them.
They know about nature; they know the law. They know their rights. It’s not possible to threaten them. Dealing with them is like walking on a tightrope.
They even make very big decisions on their own. So, we must let them speak. That’s the only way to understand them. If they ask a question, we should answer only what they asked, logically.
We shouldn’t display all our knowledge in front of children just because there’s no one else to talk to or listen to us.
parenting in a digital age parenting in a digital age
