I am a father of a 4½ years old boy, and I am concerned about a lot of the aspects that Sherry Turkle exposed. I am aware that my kid sees me a lot with my smartphone in my hands.
I try to explain to him - or to myself? - that this device is a somewhat new technology that bundled together a lot of media and communication technologies: "I'm reading the news; I'm taking a picture of us; I'm talking to your uncle," and so on, and telling him how I'd be doing those things in "the old days..."
Thanks for sharing Bruno! This has to be such an interesting concept and maybe even a battle as a parent. I have nieces who are 8 years old and its amazing how "screen time" is the biggest bartering tool in their lives. Their screen time at 8 years old involves games, apps where you can build avatars, YouTube videos, and sometimes even a TV show on Netflix. I try to imagine is this request for screen time the same thing as me asking to watch a movie at their age? Maybe we do explain technology to the younger generations more for our own benefit than for theirs?
ReplyDelete