In a group of ten parents, there could only be one who goes to cyberspace.
This is a shocking finding for me when I spoke before a group of parents yesterday in a private school in Las Pinas, a city south of Manila. Shocking because I could not imagine how we could expect parents to deal with children in today’s world of information technology when they themselves have not even heard of Yahoo!. How can we expect them to manage the cyber activities of their children? Or, protect them from the dangers of cyberspace? Or, equip their children to use with discretion this very open and worldwide interconnection of computers and telephones?
If parents are to manage teenage kids on the use of computers, the Internet, blogs, emails, games, and so on, they should have at least a conceptual understanding of what these are all about. My most important recommendation? Be in cyberspace yourself so you know what your kids are doing online. And then you will acquire the strong ground and sense for dipping into this virtual world they are deep into. Your confidence of talking to your children about the dangers of cyberspace, for example, will come from you own knowledge of it. It is quite impossible to talk to your children about swimming when you have not even wet your toes in a pool or in the sea. Plain and simple common sense.
It is no excuse for a 50-year-old mother or father to be technology-resistant, because there is no excuse for relating with his or her 15-year-old son or daughter who just opened a Friendster account. Worst, if something terrible had happened already. Talk about cyberbullying!
Age is no matter in acquiring new knowledge and skill, especially if it is material in helping our children develop good judgment and sound decision-making. If it’s Magic Cards they play, know about it or even learn to play it. If it’s basketball they enjoy, know the rules of the game. It pays to engage yourself and your children in conversations about a game, a film, a book, or food. This way you gain insights into your children’s way of thinking, reasoning, judgment, and values.
It is good sense that even before we start disciplining our children, we should start at knowing what we are disciplining about.
By the way, studies have shown that children 16 and below should have no business joining an Internet social network service. It’s too dangerous for children this young as they still lack a sense of judgment in dealing with the challenging situations that they could encounter in a virtual society. In fact, the US Congress is trying to ban Friendstar, MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo360, Essembly, and other social networks from high schools and libraries. See the bill.
There are many more other issues affecting our children and cyberspace. But the most urgent one that requires our attention is that of protecting them and keeping them safe from all the dangers of the Internet.
How interesting! You definitely opened their eyes to what they are missing!
Hi Deedee! Maybe we can organize a security awareness seminar focused on cyber related security? By doing so we help parents or guardians become aware and take measures to protect their loved ones from cyberthreats such as pedophiles using the net to lure a victim, fraud, scams, etc.
Maybe an org can sponsor the seminar?
Hi, Totep. Good opportunity. We can start discussing!
Nice blog!
Thank you, Livette!
Hiya Deedee! Remember me from iblog3? Thanks to you I have a new blog at WordPress, hahaha. See how fast we pick up tips like these? My daughters told me, upon hearing of this new blog, “What Mom! Another one???” (hehehe, this is my 4th na kasi….)
Anyway, regarding your post, I am in total agreement with you about being cyberparents. I am one. I believe in trying to keep a step ahead of my kids (or at the very least, on equal footing with them). And being open with them about it, they readily allow me to check out their blogs (my college kids) and they even comment on mine!. Believe it or not, I even know how to get into their email (but of course, I always try to respect their privacy to the extent reasonable).
The thought of doing a project to make more parents cyber-savvy has been on my mind. Never got around to doing anything about it though. Am glad someone like you has began taking up the cudgels. Let me know if you need warm bodies!
Hi, Jane! What a surprise! And ganda ng photo natin sa blog ni Edlynn. True blue, huh?
There should be no such thing as a digital divide between children and parents. My father, who’s 67, chats with webcam, emails, surfs the internet, reads my blog. He has no excuse not to be a cyberparent since we, his children, are all cyber citizens. His better judgment told him he had to keep up with us. And us, parents, to keep up with our own children. If it’s MTV they watch, then it’s MTV I watch. If it’s YouTube for them, then it is for me also.
Aren’t we glad we are mother bloggers?
See you again!