Stephanie Worsop: Navigating the minefield of technology and kids

Technology is here to stay, so how do you manage it with small children?

OPINION

It can be a minefield raising a kid in this technological age.

How much screen time do you allow? At what age, if at all, do you give them a tablet? Do you let them play video games? When do you give them their first phone and when do you let them on social media?

Navigating technology and parenting has been a common conundrum since the turn of the century.

While there has been plenty of research into the topic, it can be hard to know what the real effects are because for every piece of evidence that concludes technology is bad for young children, another says it can promote the development of an array of useful skills.

Twenty years later, I don't think we're any closer to finding the right balance. If anything, I think we've found ourselves in a more difficult position as technology continues to become more accessible and affordable.

When once you had to be pretty rich to own a desktop at home and there wasn't much you could do on it because the dial-up was so slow, now many households have multiple devices to access fast and unlimited internet with.

When once - in my primary school years, so not that long ago thank you very much - schools had computer labs and pen licenses, now each child is supplied with their own device and off they go.

Then, when you factor in all the online content and apps specifically targeted at children, you have to wonder if there's much point in putting up a fight at all.

But I think there is.

One of the few things hubby and I discussed before our son was born that we have actually managed to stick to is that he is not going to have his own tablet.

I am in no way against technology and I am certainly not pretending we adhere to an off-the-grid type parenting style - as I've said in earlier columns, we relied on the ole faithful TV babysitter during lockdown more than just a little bit.

So perhaps it's more nostalgic memories of my childhood that are driving this desire to limit his technology intake.

Things like making mudpies outside and convincing my sister to eat one, jumping out bedroom windows to escape imaginary baddies and, (to my parents' absolute horror) throwing cartons of eggs at the old oak tree at the back of the house.

We want our son to explore and imagine the same way we did growing up.

But even with this intention, we have still noticed our own dependence on technology rubbing off on him.

Our cellphones are the perfect example. If our son, who is just shy of 1, gets hold of mine, he will sit there swiping the screen, just as he has seen me mindlessly do on numerous occasions.

He is also pretty proficient with the console controllers having watched his gamer parents using them.

We do try to counteract this. Hubby and I are avid readers and reading a story every night is part of our boy's bedtime routine.

We also enjoy board games and I recently converted the bookshelf I cleared while decluttering into a board game library of sorts.

So have we worked out the perfect balance in this technological age? I highly doubt it.

But we are crossing our fingers that in the end, we'll end up with a kid who can teach us how to use the new devices when they start to outstrip our knowledge but will also be able to give his mum a run for her money at Bananagrams.

We'll just have to wait and see.