We chose what time we want to
wake up in the morning, we chose if we
hit the snooze bar to get a few extra minutes of sleep, we chose whether we hit the snooze bar three,
four, or five times to get some more
sleep. We chose what shirt to wear. We chose
what pants or skirt to match. In free
societies we chose whom we date. We
chose whom we marry. And we make the
choice to have a child. With social
media we chose what we post, we chose what we share, we chose what we comment
on At every moment of every day. I know
you have seen this picture, the proud, soon-to-be mom, holding up her positive pregnancy test or
holding up a sign with a date when she and her significant other are expecting ( raising children) .
And from that moment on, our children in
today's society are being socialized online before they actually enter the
physical world. So we see the progression of the baby bump photos, the pictures
of preparing the nursery for the arrival of the newborn. Until one day we see the post that we have
all been waiting for. We see a post from
the delivery room. Sometimes, we see a cute cuddly baby, and sometimes we see a
screaming, straight from the womb, still attached newborn. I've seen it. I know
you've seen it. And we are sharing such personal information full name, time of
birth, weight, length.
Every first of this child's life
in today's society will be documented. Forever, on social media. The first
diaper change, the first bottle, the first snuggle with grandma or grandpa, the
first hug with the big sister, who's so
proud that she is wearing a shirt that says "big sister." Every first is documented forever online. And
then the first with the young toddler tapping on a device. Swiping their finger
on a device. We have gotten to the point where we are sharing party training
pictures of our children while the children are holding smartphones and tablets
to help them pass the time while they are learning to pee or poop. As the child
grows up, we get to see pictures posted by parents, proud parents of their children on play
dates. And the children are each holding their device in their face. All but ignoring the other children that are
near them. They are in the same room,
they are often sitting on the same couch,
but they are not actually interacting ( raising children).
And then if you go to a restaurant today more
often than not you will see a family sitting there. All staring into their
favorite device screens. All but ignoring their most precious loved ones an
arm's length away. When we hand our young children a smartphone or a tablet to
keep them entertained, we are missing something. We are missing something as a
society. We are missing the prime opportunity to teach our children
cyberethics. We are missing the opportunity to ingrain cyberethics into their developing minds, the minds of the
next generation. What if we teach
children starting at three years old about bullying, about privacy, about screen time balance, about empathy and
other cyberethics topics? It is all too often in the media, that we see, hear
or read terrible stories of something that has happened to a child that is
related to the technology ( raising children).
This is Adam Norman, a 30-year-old father and a journalist. I consider being a father as my full-time duty, which comes before my actual job of journalism. As a father, there will always be new challenges for me to face everyday while raising my kids. This is where the idea of this website came from. I wanted to give out my experience, along with the experience of others, to all parents out there who need an advice with raising their kids.
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