Faith Filled Family Magazine November 2016 | Page 26

‘immigrants’ they are the ‘natives’. They probably know your passwords already, so change them regularly. Parents need to implement a protective strategy before your children down-load apps. (This is also essential for preventing online viruses and hacking too). How do we deal with our simultaneous attraction to, and fear of, technology? Technology is a reflection of our humanity-it is either bad or good, it depends on how we use it. Technology gives us opportunities to improve our lives, but if we are not careful, we can be ruled by our dependence on it, and that is when technology can harm us and our children. There is an increased need for people to return to face to face contact as they experienc e the emptiness of so called online-friendships, but we need to give our children reasons to change their communication habits of sitting in front of screens before they can do this. The Circle with Disney box is a great step forward in monitoring and protecting our children at home. But as so much of their time is spent at school, out of doors or at friend’s homes, how can a parent proactively influence usage and abusage of technology away from their physical proximity? ‘Circle Go’ provides the same parental controls on mobile devices as the home device, Circle with Disney have developed an app for phones, which is pretty amazing. So we can limit usage on 3G and 4G technology where ever our kids connect with a local Wi-Fi hub. Which means we can to introduce content and time controls. When the ‘the barn door is already open’ so to speak, how can you help parWhen a child is seeing and us- ents already in this situation? ing ‘cool stuff’, they want to If we parents are addicted to show it off to their mates, who technology and the stuff we in turn want to do the same. use and watch, then we have So how can parents neutral- to retrain ourselves first. Sayize the influence of peer group ing ‘do as I say not as I do’ does pressure? not command respect or trust. By having a great relationship For example, we can get a $5 with our kids. We parents had alarm clock instead of using our peer-group pressure too - which phones to wake us up. Put all is just a form of influence - we devices to charge in one open need to move from control to in- space at an agreed time every fluence in our relationships - we evening. We need to do this first do this by staying engaged with - we must model what we expect them - not controlling - but influ- of our children - we can then encing based on trust and re- make agreements with them that spect. based on trust. Ask yourself the question. ‘Does technology conAs a father and husband I set trol me or do I control my techgoals for my family that helps nology?’ create a balance between my work and family life. We have Have schools and colleges four nights a week with no tech- shown interest in using Circle nology. We are driven to be con- technology to help clean up nected all the time with the world and restrict internet usage but it doesn’t have to be like that. and even apply the principles It used to be difficult for ordinary of ‘Parent Chat’ in the educapeople to find information, but tional process? If so what are now we have access to every- they doing? thing, so we must learn how to Yes –schools are wondering how sift and digest that information they can partner with parents in and decide when to limit the combating the dangers our chilworld’s intrusion into our lives. dren are exposed too. We are talking to them about implementParent Chat is a great guide ing Parent Chat principles with for how best to combat the Circle in the classroom. negative impact of smart technology, especially if a parent Do you think the companies introduces guidelines and re- who design and sell hardstrictions at an early age, or ware and software of games, before a device is purchased. apps and internet usage have But with millions of older chil- a shared responsibility in the dren, say 10 year olds through negative impact these techthe teens period already ob- nologies are having on our sessed with their favourite culture especially within chilgame, app or chat site; it is dren’s lives? going to be a tough process It is about shared responsibility limit usage in friend’s homes, shopping malls, and school playgrounds.