The video in the above link should make you think. Think about your own screen time as well as your children's. Are you guilty of watching the screen instead of focusing on what your child is trying to tell you? I am. Are you guilty of checking your phone immediately when it beeps even if you're in the middle of a conversation with someone face to face? I am. Are you guilty of letting your children watch TV, play video games, or play other electronic games for hours on end? I sometimes am. Are you guilty of giving in and getting your child a phone or letting them have a Facebook account, simply because: "All my friends have one!" I am happy to say that I am not!
I'm not asking these questions to instill guilt. Rather, to instill understanding. Understanding of what our society has become. Like most of you, I spent my after school hours running around with the neighborhood kids and my summers soaking up the sun with the same neighbors. Why would I want to stay inside when I could be running, jumping, biking, etc. When we moved into the city 7 months ago we were astounded that we rarely saw children playing outside. Granted, we don't have a lot of children on our street, but they don't play outside nearly as much as our children do. If we leave this neighborhood with nothing other than getting the kids outside to play more, I will feel that we left it better! The past week or two we have been enjoying beautiful weather. The result: two of the neighbor boys have actually come and asked if DJ could come out and play with them! They have a great time together and I love listening to them through our open windows as they decide which Super Hero they each are and where to take the bad guys after they capture them.
I am so glad that my husband and I have decided that our children will not have their own phones until they can pay for one by themselves. We do have one 'extra' cell phone that they can take when they are going somewhere for a late night or activity. This phone is not a smart phone, but does have texting and a camera. They know that the privilege of using this phone as needed is just that: a privilege. Even though we have two teenagers, neither of them have a Facebook account. They do have email, which I have access to and check on occasion. Our oldest, M, has asked for an FB account, but because she goes to school every day with all of her friends and can email or call her cousins any time she wants, we haven't let her have one yet. I am not worried about her use of it, it's everyone else out there that scares me! Our teens know how to navigate the web better than their Father (no offense Hon!) and we have filters set up to take care of everything we possibly can.
We feel that as parents we should teach our children to be good citizens of their community. Leave things better than you found them. And although it is important to have good friends, we feel that our family is the most important area of our lives to focus on. This is what has brought us to use "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" for our Family Home Evening lessons for the next 5 or 6 weeks. I am so excited to study this with my family. I have found some great ideas for helping the kids understand some of the concepts and hope that it turns out as well as I want it too. I'll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, I hope you will take time to enjoy your family now. They grow up way too fast!
No comments:
Post a Comment