As summer vacation gets into full swing, many parents we’ve talked to have expressed concern about how much time their kids will spend in front of a television or online this summer. This article, “Quality Counts When it Comes to Digital Literacy,” from NBC News’ EducationNation.com, talks about how the quality of the media our kids consume affects them and how in many ways, “the conversation around the digital divide is shifting from one about putting technology in people’s hands to one about making sure they know how to harness its power.”
What do you think? What is more important, the quality of consumed media or the amount of time a child spends on the couch or computer?
If I handed you a hammer, and you did nothing more than hit yourself in the head with it, people would wonder what’s wrong with you. It’s a tool that you can use to build things. You can make yourself a home. You can make your life better using this tool properly.
Another tool, the Internet, is the younger, racier cousin of television, which has long been blamed for its ability to suck up time and the mind of anyone who is foolish enough to plant himself in front of the “boob tube.” It’s easy entertainment with no investment on the viewer’s part. If parents allow themselves, and/or their children, to become addicted to this easy escapism, their appetite for things that require physical or mental activity quickly disappears.
I might argue, based on the stats cited in the article, that less affluent families cannot provide the breadth of opportunities for themselves, and particularly their children, to keep them engaged away from the TV or Internet.
If the stats are true, and media exposure ramps up significantly for families of parents without a college degree, doesn’t that suggest, in broad strokes, a history where education and intellectual curiosity, by choice or circumstance, has not been emphasized? Does an unstimulated, untrained mind find the easiest path to its own recreation and entertainment?
I want to tell all parents that the alternative is not difficult. There are numerous fun ways to fill you time with your children – away from electronic media – that actually teach them something as well as entertain them. As tempting as media is as a ready babysitter, your children and you will benefit more in terms of quality time and educational benefit, if they join with you in your chores and activities.
In Parent Today, we encourage and help parents along this path, talking about these times together – engaged in activities that build the parent-child relationship as well as a child’s interest in learning. Our goal is to help parents help their children succeed – in school and in life.
Of course, Parent Today is an online resource, and that touches on the second part of the article we’re talking about. TV and the Internet, although demonized by some as a vast electronic wasteland, can be a useful educational resource while it entertains.
It is important for those who care – educators, parents, and legislators – to understand the power of the technology in our hands, and the opportunities to help parents and children thrive intellectually and creatively through it. It is important to create and offer engaging content and programming that spans cultures and generations, providing a tool that families can control and use to improve and thrive.
Surrendering your mind and your time passively to media is a waste. People can think. Using the media – with discernment – to inform and enrich your life is a wise investment.