Thursday, March 22, 2018

Raising Children in a Social Media World

Technology. Technology and children. Pornography. Social Media. Screen Time. Face to Face Interactions. 



Buzz Words. 

Important buzz words. I cannot begin to number the conversations I have had with friends and family over the past several years about raising children/family life in the modern, technological world. I have sat stewing on FaceTime with siblings and friends discussing and re-discussing HOW, WHEN, WHAT & WHICH. How do you raise a kid amidst all the screens? How do you help them develop a confident self image, a healthy self image? How do you avoid online bullying? When is the right age to give a kid a phone? What type of phone? Which apps are best to set parental locks? Or in other words, what technology best helps parents shield their children from technology? (A bit ironic...) What are appropriate screen time limits? Should teenagers have phones at night or should they be kept in a parent's room?

The questions are endless. I could go on forever. 

Colin Kartchner is a social media celeb. I am not sure what for, but I do know that he is a big influencer, especially among the LDS community. He seems like a great guy, don't get me wrong. He has had a couple big movements recently that have "gone viral" so to say. The first was about authenticity in our social media accounts (reality vs. curation) and the second was about social media use and teenagers. He shared pictures of rather chilling index cards. A teacher in Utah asked the kids in her class to anonymously finish the sentence "What my parents don't know about social media is..." The results were shocking. And scary. And persuasive. Colin's movement now is #BringBackTheFlipPhone or something to that effect. A good guy, trying to find a solution to a tough issue, in the best way he can. 

His post brought back all those questions of how, when, what and which. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO TO SHIELD MY LITTLE SWEET INNOCENT EZRA FROM THE WAYS OF THE WORLD AND ALL THINGS EVIL!? (Sorry to shout.) 

Today, I found the solution or at least a part of it.  

I should start first by saying that, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Morm, yall) I believe in modern revelation. That means, I believe in a living prophet, like Biblical prophets (think Moses, Isaiah, etc), who receive inspiration from God. You might've just thought "Psh, that's weird...and like impossible, right?" but then you stop and think "Wait, but if that's real, that's like the greatest news of all time..." BECAUSE IT IS. But, I digress. Get back to me if you want to know more. 

Anyway, living prophets and apostles. I believe that the apostles and prophets who lead our Church are inspired of God. I believe what they teach us is the BEST way. They are more than just wonderful, educated, hard working men--though they are also those things. They are, or at least should be, if I can make a very cheesy social-media-related pun: the best influencers. Sorry Colin Kartchner. 

Elder M. Russell Ballard says this: 

"A family council, when conducted with love and with Christlike attributes, will counter the impact of modern technology that often distracts us from spending quality time with each other and also tends to bring evil right into our homes." 

Mic drop. It is a paragraph from his talk "Family Councils" that is easily overlooked. It is not a final paragraph. There is not a big lead up to it. It is just kind of there in the middle.

"...there was a time when the walls of our homes provided all the defense we needed against outside intrusions and influences. We locked the doors, closed the windows; we shut the gates; and we felt safe, secure, and protected in our own little refuge from the outside world.
Those days are now gone. The physical walls, doors, fences, and gates of our homes cannot prevent unseen invasion from the Internet, the Wi-Fi, the mobile phones, the networks. They can penetrate our homes with just a few clicks and keystrokes.
Fortunately, the Lord has provided a way to counter the invasion of negative technology that can distract us from spending quality time with each other. He has done this by providing the council system to strengthen, protect, safeguard, and nurture our most precious relationships."

But what. a. promise. Family councils. Read the whole talk, here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/family-councils?lang=eng



1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing that part of that talk. I would never have found it. For some reason, I had a really hard time listening to and rereading that particular talk. Maybe I was taking the word "council" too literally. The part that was so hard for me was how he made it sound like learning and teaching in the home needs to be planned ahead of time and take place between opening and closing prayers. I have discovered that is not mine or Jeff's parenting style in any way. We prefer to continually be answering questions and having discussions about challenges, gospel principles, and how the two go together. So I have mostly avoided reading this talk. But at the same time I always prick up my ears when an apostle or prophet speaks directly about a specific way to combat the scary influences of the world. I loved when President Monson talked about how reading the BOM every single day is the way to keep our families safe from evil. I'm not sure what else I'm exactly trying to say, but thanks for sharing your thoughts, sister!

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