Professionally I'm an Software Developer & Interaction Marketing Consultant. This means that I can & often do develop software like web tools, mobile apps, & ecommerce. This also means that companies hire me to help them get the most effect and best results from their online marketing efforts which include search strategies & Social Media. I understand it & I know how to use it well.
However, my favorite job ever is being a dad. My kid are a huge part of my life. Since they were babies there's only been a few times that I've missed tucking them in at night & praying with them. My kids are now 13 & 10 years old. And while they have their own phones, the privilege of this technology has very clear purposes & priorities. #1. So their mom & I can communicate with them when they are not with us (don't answer our calls or text and you loose the phone). #2. So we can locate them quickly whenever they are not with us. Both safety related. #3 Is so they can experience technology as a tool with things like the Bible, calculator & a dictionary in the palm of their hand. Then and only then is it for entertainment & communication with others. Oh sure they have a few games they play & friends they call & text. However, I am of the opinion that they have NO need for "social media". Not yet anyhow. With my expertise, knowledge & experience it would be very easy for me to monitor them online. But why? I know that my kids will develop better relationships & people & social skills by actually talking to their friends.
Both my kids have very healthy good friendships without Social Media.
I credit this to several things. My wife & I will always get on the "same page" regarding our kids... We don't always start there but we will invest in them & ourselves & get there. We teach our kids about Jesus. We pray & talk about prayers & answered prayers regularly in our home. Then we make our kids work hard. We expect a lot from them, we push them to be the best they can be & we love them unconditionally all of the time!
When I say we make our kids work hard this applies to a great many things. Schoolwork comes before any entertainment. We've had them choose one primary activity they want to do. Sometimes over the years they have been involved in two activities. For an example; our son did both Kenpo & Soccer for several years. Now he's doing soccer & swimming. Our Daughter has been in gymnastics since she was about 5 & now she is doing Choir too. Each kid practices their activity a couple hours a day a couple days a week. We didn't want our kids sitting on the couch sucked into some screen. Oh sure, we allow some of that when everything else is done. Everyone needs some downtime.
We spend a lot of time together as a family & when we are home we spend time working together. Our kids help cook, clean & take care of things. It is expected of them. We share the responsibilities according to what we can each do & we push each other to do more & better ourselves.
There may come a day when my wife & I feel that our kids will benefit from social media but for now their social media activity is limited to what we choose to share with them from our own social media experiences. This may include a joke or answered prayer on our Facebook news feed or a good YouTube video on the family computer. Oh yeah... No computers or TV's in the kids rooms either... But perhaps that is a different blog post. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts.
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