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A comment on Always Connected: Generation Z, the “Digitarians”. Parent comment

Re:Always Connected: Generation Z, the “Digitarians” by sandgaw on Monday August 03, 2015 @01:18PM (#9997903)
The thing that people are missing is, tech is being used as a baby sitter. Just like TV was for me. Now it's worse because It's always connected. Parents are fucking lazy today. I see it constantly. It's about being connected to your kid that I'm for. That's fucking hard and people don't want to do hard today when they come home from work. They would rather sit and watch their own shit on their device because parenting is hard. Just look around the mall, airport or a dinner table. We're not talking about 12 year olds. These kids are 2, 4, 5, 7 and 9, etc... Their brains are developing and technology, scientifically proven, gets in the way of brain development- just like TV and video games in my gen. It's not bad, in moderation, just like everything else in this world. So, it's not about the tech it's about the family. My 9 yr old kid reads 5-10 books a week. She looses herself in her books to the point she can't hear anyone. Learning, safely, for the most part. Using her imagination instead of it being fed to her by the vast majority of the shit out there. she gets to play learning and thinking games, not fruit ninja. What has changed from my gen is being connected 24/7 has giving adults an easy way out from doing something hard. I fucking want yell at a parent who is out to dinner with 2,3,4 year olds at the table playing with an iPad. While the parent is buried in their own. I limited the tech not because it's tech, trendy and cool to do so but, because we want our kids to be able to communicate with other human beings and the ability resolve conflict through something other than a text or Facebook. They will have plenty of opportunities to be immersed into technology and all troublesome things that come with it as a teen.

I know technology is empowering at the right age. But, I want both my kids to be exposed to cooking, knitting, skateboarding, swimming, playing sports, books, music and art by actually doing it versus it being fed to them on an iPad. If either one of them wants to learn a different programming language than me, I hope the fact that I've connected with my kid so we will be able to discover it together.

Bottom line, Generation Z is being raise by Apple, Samsung and Amazon. As a parent, I'm not OK with this.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Always Connected: Generation Z, the “Digitarians” by nemo1618 on Monday August 03, 2015 @02:54PM (#9998861)
For the most part I agree with your sentiment. You make a good point about the parents being as sucked into technology as their kids.

Regarding books though...is a book objectively "better" entertainment than a video game? Both require user participation, as opposed to the mindless consumption of television. There are low-quality games, but there are low-quality books as well. I'm inclined to agree that books are better, but I'm having a hard time justifying that belief.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Always Connected: Generation Z, the “Digitarians” by sandgaw on Monday August 03, 2015 @03:39PM (#9999212)
@ nemo1618 I agree, books can be bad, too. We try to monitor what they read, but it's just as hard. They are going to sneak and hide the ones we don't want them to read - human nature. But, as a connected parent, I make it priority, even for just literally a few minutes, to sit down and ask about what she is reading. That way, she knows I'm participating. It makes a big difference. And, we do struggle with her reading constantly.. we get her out and go for a walk, bug hunts, etc.

The downside to a connected parent? I see one TV show a week with my wife, I'm tired, the laundry piles up and the living space is a lot dirtier.

Back to the point, I feel we are both making: It doesn't matter the medium, too much of one thing is bad. But, it's so much easier to put 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 year olds in front of devices, because it's easy parenting. By the time they are 7, they won't want to read - it'll be too boring.

[ Parent | on HN ]