Both with our children (and ourselves), we are learning that technology can be a blessing and a curse. I know for me, sometimes I see my phone as part of who I am. I don’t want it to be that way. I don’t want my children to see me on my computer, phone, tablet so often. But, let’s be honest. It is woven into most parts of our lives.

How can we teach our children to manage it in their own lives, when we haven’t mastered that sense of management yet? I want to be completely transparent and declare that I’m struggling as a parent (right alongside of you) to be consistent in managing the electronics at home. My kids are all older and are 1 to 1 technology at their school. Meaning, they each have their own device to do all school work, required by their school. I will be the first one to agree with you that this is super difficult.

However, based on the observations and experiences I’ve encountered in my classroom and with my own children, I want to share some reasons why it needs to be managed and some tips on how to do that. We know technology will be in our child’s future. So, we need to somewhat embrace it.

But why not look at it as… we can manage IT, not let IT control us.

Balance Out Negative Effects

In my classroom and with my own children, I have observed technology reigning over essential developmental milestones in children. Below I have noted those and have given suggestions on how you can set those areas apart from technology. By doing that, it will provide a healthy boundary and you will be balancing it.

1) Declining fine motor skills

Fine motor skills are essential for academic success. I often wonder if devices have replaced scissors, crayons, and other tools that strengthen their fingers.

Try this: Help them look up fun activities or apps for cutting crafts that they can make. If you provide fun, engaging fine motor activities that excite them, they won’t miss their devices.

2) Declining creativity and imagination

Imagination and creativity build character, an understanding of life, and allow a child to ‘practice’ life. Play IS a child’s way of learning. On global play day, in which my first grade class played all day (without any technology), I was enlightened. I discovered that when you provide many ‘open-ended’ toys (basically without rules), their imagination explodes. I witnessed a bakery shop in my classroom (including the entire business process), conversations equipped with different character voices between dolls, and art projects in which they were so proud.

Try this: Provide toys that have NO type of technology (not even sounds), sit back and observe your child come to life. And then, try not to smile:) It will enlighten you!

3) Declining social awareness and connection

Playing physical games (such as board games, floor games, card games, etc…) teach an abundance of social skills. I have found that there is a decline in understanding how to take turns (including waiting patiently for your turn), speak to others, and how to lose a game properly. This has to be modeled. To be modeled, we must bring back physical games.

Try this: Discover what your child’s favorite device game is and then bring that game to life (physically right in front of them). There are many board games that emulate their electronic games.

4) Declining book awareness

Books found on technology have been a great resource for those that do not have the physical books in hand. However, these online books should not replace real-life books. There should be a balance. Online books are a great alternative for when you aren’t capable of lugging books places.

Try this: Snuggle and read at least 1 physical book a day to your child. Interact and discuss the characters and happenings in the book. Anytime you need to use a digital book, keep the bonding element of ‘togetherness’ by avoiding the temptation of just handing the device to your child as a babysitter.

Engage Technology For Valuable Purposes

You’ve probably heard how important it is to have a purpose behind the things you do/use. Before handing your child a device, take a second to pause and think about and reflect on the purpose. Here are some great purposes for the use of technology.

1) Educational purposes

Again, technology should never replace physical materials that your child can explore through the senses of touch, feel, see, etc.., but rather supplement your child’s learning. There are even some great fine motor apps that assist your child in proper formation of letters and numbers. My favorite educational websites are pbskids.org, starfall.com, and kids.nationalgeographic.com.

2) Mindfulness practice purposes

There are so many mindfulness practices that children can be taught at a young age to enhance their social and emotional well-being. Teaching children these practices early builds an understanding of awareness (self and social) that can greatly enhance their life transitions from child to adolescent to adult. Technology can help teach your child these practices (and can also benefit you). My favorite websites are mindyeti.com, gonoodle.com, and cosmickids.com.

3) Research purposes

This might sound like it is for older children, but even Kindergartners can learn about their non-fiction interests. I ALWAYS recommend that a parent researches right beside their child. A child should never be given free-range searching on the internet. Discover your child’s interests (favorite sport, animal, place, historical person, etc…) and research facts about that topic. My favorite websites are brainpopjr.com and kids.nationalgeographic.com.

You will notice that I do use technology in my tutoring kits. However, I will only use it as a tool to assist learning. My kits are built upon physical objects that allow children to use all senses, not solely sight and hearing.

Technology is here to stay. We can choose to make it control us or work for us. Help your children understand that those are the options and the only thing that should control them is themselves. You might have read articles (like this one) about technology becoming a digital drug. I 100% believe that some people have chosen it to be that for them and some have let technology take over them like an addiction. I encourage you (and myself) to provide balance and purpose to technology, so that it becomes a tool, not an addiction.