Sheila Gashumba, the Ugandan media personality, shared on Twitter how the best thing her dad ever bought her when she was young was a phone. At the age of eight, she got her first phone and her own computer too. Her father also got her quick typing tutorial games to speed up her typing on any keyboard and now, she said, she makes good money by working on her phone. The world is without a doubt becoming more and more digitally driven. It has proven to be empowering and that those who possess related skills have higher chances of surviving and succeeding. What this means is that children need to access these skills, the earlier the better if they are to succeed in the future that will be predominantly digital. Where does this leave parenting, however, given the risks and exposure that comes with tech platforms, the likes of social media, among other online platforms? For many parents, letting their children have phones or use social media is an undebatable discussion, according to Sarah Tuyishime, a mother of two. “It’s a no for them and they have good reasons for it. There is a lot of exposure that most parents would prefer to keep their children’s innocence until later when they are old enough to make the right decisions,” she says. But the future is digital, everything and everywhere will require that a person is tech-savvy. How should children then prepare? In many ways, technology is a good thing, writes Melanie Pinola. It can be empowering for kids of all ages, with tools that help children learn in fun and engaging ways, express their creativity and stay connected to others. Children who are tech-savvy will also be better prepared for a workforce that will be predominantly digital. At the same time, the author points out how parents naturally worry about their kids, accessing inappropriate content online, the impact of too much screen time on healthy development and their children becoming tethered to technology. Parents need to adjust to the times and let their children as young as eight years old, or even younger, have access to phones, laptops and even social media platforms, says Eric Mutabazi, a father of three. He believes that technology in such times is inevitable and withholding children from getting skills at a young age is limiting their future in so many ways. “As parents, we have to be vigilant. We have to adjust since it’s inevitable, besides there are opportunities too that come with technology. Let’s not only focus on the negative, children can always get bad influence from anywhere, all we need is to be cautious and guiding towards them,” he figures. An article, ‘Benefits of technology and the right kind of screen time for children’, shows that kids have big imaginations; too big to be contained. Where in the past they only had art supplies like crayons and coloured markers at their disposal to get those ideas out and into a conveyable form, they now have computers, tablets, and so much more to help them turn such thoughts into reality, whether that’s through a more traditional drawing medium or through digital art. Sure, they still have pens and paper, but now, instead of, or in addition to, drawing a picture, they can create a 3D animation, and then even send that animation to a 3D printer to allow it to take on a physical form. Who knows...their creation could be the prototype to a million dollar business. “Are there cons to exposing kids to technology? Of course. Like all things, there has to be a good and a bad. But remember this—the bad usually stems from abuse and extremes. Sure, you can make the argument that such abuse wouldn’t even be an option if the thing being abused was never introduced in the first place. But if that is indeed how you’re thinking about kids and technology, I ask you, how do you avoid it? Do you go the other extreme and keep kids from technology altogether? How could you manage?” Even if you were successful in maintaining such separation, doing so would be to strip kids of fun and entertainment, and more importantly, personal growth, skill-building, and the chance to land a lucrative job down the road. So, then, we land in the middle; balancing technology and life—ensuring kids soak up all that is considered good, and shielding them from what could easily turn bad with excessive use. For instance, there are hobbies to replace video game playing that still revolve around video games (which helps with engagement), but get kids to progress from only consuming them, the article states. How to keep children safe online Pinola offers some tips to evaluate the quality of your children’s digital interactions: Are they accessing age-appropriate content? Are the apps they use interactive and thought-provoking rather than passive? Not all screen time is equal. Going back to the food analogy, 100 calories from a doughnut is not the same as 100 calories from a salad; an hour watching YouTube videos isn’t the same as an hour spent on a digital art programme. Are the privacy settings for older children’s social media and other online accounts set to restrict what strangers can see and who can contact your children? Mutabazi is of the view that parents discuss with their children about what they should access on the internet. They should guide them on what to watch and read. “Communication is a very important aspect. What children need most is guidance and in this case, sharing appropriate sites and content for them is crucial, you also need to explain your choices for them to understand.” It is also recommended that parents beware of the parental controls and be keen on protecting their children’s privacy online.
