BC Parent News
Bullying used to be upsetting but contained. A victim would most often be verbally or physically bullied but once away from the “bully”, the victim would have a reprieve until perhaps the next interaction. Technology has resulted in a far worse form of bullying, known as “cyberbullying” which results in the victim never being able to escape the abuse by leaving an environment. Instead, the victim is haunted wherever they go and for an indefinite period of time.
The recent Wren Eleanor discourse is centered on the ethics of posting children on social media. This discourse is primarily fueled by other TikTok content creators who posted stitches (videos directly commenting on the original Wren videos) and commentaries offering their views: predominately, that Wren’s videos were saved by people who were sexualizing children.
The pandemic has many children spending more time online than they may have ever before.Of course, that also brings it with a series of safety concerns and challenges. Many young children are not fully aware of the cybercriminals that lurk around the World Wide Web. Although you may think you recognize these bad actors and their attempts to separate you from your money or personal information, these attempts may not be so obvious to your children
Children live within a world predominantly defined by their ability to access the digital community within seconds. Thanks to the rise of portable devices such as smartphones and virtually ubiquitous Internet connectivity, this generation of children can enjoy freedoms which would have been impossible to imagine 20 years ago.
For many parents, concern over kids being glued to screens is not a new phenomenon. However, with the pandemic causing a 500% spike of digital media usage amongst younger generations, the issue has become a new kind of monster. Our current reality is forcing families to rethink screen time limits and come up with solutions that take into account both the harmful effects of excessive digital media use and the need for kids to engage in online school and socialization. The pandemic has had a detrimental impact on many kids, and an unhealthy dependence on technology could be a long-lasting side effect of a full year away from school and friends.
We just learned about an incredible extracurricular program for high school students and wanted to share it with parents in Vancouver. The Knowledge Society (TKS) is a 10-month innovation program for students ages 13-17 who want to solve the world’s biggest problems. The program is modeled after curriculums from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, and designed to replicate the learning environments of Google and Facebook. They’ve also been recognized by organizations like the World Economic Forum.
Technology is here to stay and will prove to be one of the most important tools in your child’s life. Parents must be careful not to villainize technology. By painting excessive screen time in a negative light or punishing your child for spending too much time on their device, this does not deter them away from using technology. Instead, this villainization eventually transfers to them in the form of guilt and shame.
Smartphones are causing negative health effects. We even have a medical diagnosis for smartphone addiction (it’s Nomophobia, by the way). Look for yourself-you don’t have to dig very deep to find it. We have developed difficulties with sleeping, anxiety, compulsive web surfing, loneliness, depression, even vision and balance disturbances.
