How do you recognize a teen these days? Look for awkward people in a group where no one is talking to each other. Instead of pimple covered faces and braces, you see hands holding giant phones.
I have a fourteen-year-old and guess what? She doesn’t even have her own cell phone!
I know some parents would be in shock over this. Others would assume that means we are poor, or maybe we’re Amish? I may be frugal, but no, none of those things are true.
I simply want to raise an adult that has self-confidence in who she is, instead of who she is online or how many likes she gets. As parents, we want to know our young adult can actively participate in important conversations without worrying about if her phone vibrated. I want my daughter to know that true friendship isn’t built off apps but is built from conversations, eye contact and the ability to show emotion.
Have you ever stopped to consider the harm smartphones are creating for our children?
Unless the future is solely run by apps and people never have to interact face to face, we are doing a disservice to our children.
My daughter may no love that she feels like she is the only person on the planet without a smartphone. But she does understand the importance of not having one as well. She has learned that her friends care more about the ratings of strangers on the internet than the people they sit with at lunch. She sees that their happiness is based on the affirmations of strangers.
Do you want a confident teen? Pimples and all?
Consider limiting their phone abilities greatly. It will make them angry, they will throw a fit and you’ll feel like crap because no one wants to deal with those things. The upside to this is that you might actually get to meet your teen.
Remember, your goal in being parents isn’t making it until they are eighteen. The goal of a parent is to raise a human that can take care of itself, that’s well adjusted and can communicate with the world its in. That is the mark of success in parenting.
When you kick your little bird out of your nest will yours fly or will if fall because of the weight of its online commitments and needs?
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Photo by ViewApart on iStock
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