Screening Screens
Smart phones are the BEST!.. And the WORST…
I am loathe to give parenting advice, because oddly enough–unlike theology, history, philosophy and economics–most of the time as a parent, I am lost in the woods.
One of my biggest, if not the biggest, challenge with my kids is screen usage. I’m not going out on any limb here either (a lot of tree clichés in this post–sorry) to say that other parents today experience the same.
TAKE THEM AWAY FOR GOOD! Especially when they are rude or disconnected to actual people?
LIMIT THE TIME AND SITES AVAILABLE. What a pain in the ass for parents? Plus, it ruins trust and an appreciation of freedom.
LET THEM HAVE AT IT. Limitless screen time? Not an option. Unlike my generation (X), kids today do not have an off-switch, and what I mean by that is an off switch in the brain that says: “I’ve been playing the same mindless free game or app for 5 straight hours, maybe it’s time to stop.” Not there…
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To the rescue is a new book, Smartphone Sanity, by David Eaton and Jeremiah Callahan. It is worth the time to check out.
In it, Eaton and Callahan provide an insightful, measured, and balanced approach that instills in kids (and adults because we’re on our phones too much) proper and helpful usage of tech. What I love about it too is that it is not an arbitrary, command-from-on-high, parents-down-to-kids approach.
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It reminds me too of several things:
- Love is always the answer in parenting.
- Like my fellow historian and admitted man-crush Thad Russell says: “I love being a dad; I detest acting as a parent.”
- As I said to Purdue students assembled for my Theology on Tap talk in November: Kid and adult alike; if you are staring at your phone, you’re most likely not conversing with God, your Guardian Angel, your saints, our Our Blessed Mother. Worse–you’re not open to heavenly communication.
Lest I be a hypocrite, I need to put down the phone more.
