Let them be little. Let them be children. Let them play. Let them run. Let them discover. Let them create. Let them learn.
We live in an odd time where children seem to grow up much too quickly and mature much too slowly. Children get iPhones at age 8 and their parents still pay for them at age 28.
We have got to be smarter about our parenting choices as it relates to online activity.
I know we think these stats are talking about someone else’s kids but how much do we really know about what our kids do online?
71% of teens keep their online habits from their parents and 90% of the 8 to 16 year olds who have viewed online porn did so while doing homework. (http://thenovusproject.org/resource-hub/parents)
The statistics speak for themselves.
It is incredibly difficult to monitor what our children are doing if they are walking around with access to the WHOLE world in their hands. How many times have you thought “I am so glad social media didn’t exist when I was a teenager.” I have said those words many times.
The reality is kids don’t need smart phones. They don’t need any social media platforms. They don’t need unlimited access to the internet.
This is not a popular conversation. I have had many talks with some of my closest friends who are all convinced that “it’s not a big deal.”
But it is. It steals from them. It takes away their childhood. And sometimes in the worst cases it takes away their lives. Suicide rates among 10 to 14-year-olds have grown more than 50 percent over the last three decades. (The American Association of Suicidology, AAS)
Parents, we have got to have difficult conversations about screens.
If you have young children let me caution you against starting with screens. I know it seems harmless when they are young but it is much easier to keep them from it than it is to have to take it away later.
If you have older children I know you are feeling the pressure because ALL of their friends have phones. And it’s true, they ALL have them. This is guaranteed to be a #dohardthings situation. Swim upstream, it will be so worth it.
Let them be little. Let them be children. Let them grow up in the real world not in a virtual reality. A world they can see, taste, smell, feel and hear.
Mama, please let them be little