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Do You Feel Your Kids Are Spending Too Much Time Using Electronic Devices? The Problem, Dear Friend, May Be YOU…

Jul 13, 2015  •  Post A Comment

Do You Feel Your Kids Are Spending Too Much Time Using Electronic Devices? The Problem, Dear Friend, May Be YOU…

“Parents are often at fault, directly or indirectly, when children and teenagers become hooked on electronic media, playing video games or sending texts many hours a day instead of interacting with the real world and the people in it,” writes Jane. E. Brody in The New York Times.

Furthermore, she adds, “…digital overload can impair a child’s social, emotional and intellectual growth.”

So what are parents doing wrong? Says Brody, “Some parents are perpetually tuned into their own devices, responding to every ping of their cellphones and tablets, receiving and sending messages at times that would enrage Miss Manners. Other parents fail to establish and enforce appropriate rules for media engagement by their children.

“Young children learn by example, often copying the behavior of adults. I often see youngsters in strollers or on foot with a parent or caretaker who is chatting or texting on a cellphone instead of conversing with the children in their charge.”

One child interviewed said, “’I feel like I’m just boring. I’m boring my dad because he will take any text, any call, any time, even on the ski lift.’ A 4-year-old called her father’s smartphone a ‘stupid phone.’”

To read a lot more details about this item, please click here which will take you to the Times’ original story.

One Comment

  1. Uh, duh! How can a parent not know this?

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