Learn how to use technology for the sake of your kids.

Today's technology driven world is a very different world compared to the world where we come from. Those of us who have easily adapted to these forms of technology that were not available in our days are now known as digital citizens. The technology has come and we are integrating with it but not everyone is capable of adapting that well.

Those who are from the old world but who are either unable or unwilling to embrace technology by utilizing it in their daily lives are known by this generation as digital immigrants.

For us in Africa, both the digital immigrants and digital citizens comprises of people born between the 1970's and the 1990's. During this time the only technology that were available was the telephone, the television and the fax which only very few had access to such technologies. Even when phone ethics were taught in schools, very few had the opportunity to actually practice it.

Today, we live in the information age with the proliferation of technology. Keeping technology away from our children is a nearly impossible task and attempting to do so will make them unfit to survive in this new world of theirs. These technology smart kids are known as digital natives.

From a very young age, this kids are exposed to technology, as early as 18 Months they are very excited when the phone rings and I can bet your 10 year old kid can better manipulate your phone if you are not an advance digital citizen, and this is where the real problem lies.

Protecting kids in the past

While traditionally, the formula for keeping children safe was to protect their innocence by making them spend more time indoors and censoring their friends and associates. The strategy was that of isolation and that could mean living in a fenced house so you can be the primary influence on the child. I remember my mother asking me "where did you learn that from" and it was just popular among parents those days.

We seem not to ask such questions because gates and doors can't isolate our kids and they seem to know and have more rights than we ever had back in our old world. They can associate with friends right in their rooms without having to invite them home or leave the house which making the idea of isolation totally obsolete.
Your new job as a parents is to keep an eye on your kids in both the physical world and in cyberspace.

An old but effective guide when discussing child rearing suggest that we start instilling good values in the kids from an early age, lead them by being a good example and repeat in a rot everytime and everywhere.

_{you can only better protect if you are where they are... Image credit: Pixabay}

So when they go into cyberspace, join them, you need to have a Facebook account and not because you want it but because you want to be able to better help your kids.

Monitor their online activities

We recently had a case in Nigeria where a kid around 13 years had thousands of followers due to the nature of her posting on a social media network. It is apparent that the parents were still not aware of her online activities even after she got involved in a scandal that went viral. Someone had to call the attention of the parents which lead to their discovering what their kid had been involved in.

Most parents that are on steemit are highly ICT literate, they should be able to access the browser history of their child's phone to tell where the have been.
Can you tell when a browser history has been cleaned or edited? Noticing such should raise enough eyebrows.
You should be able to get the history back, but can you?

When you child knows that you know this things, they are likely to avoid doing some of this things but only a few will try smarter options. While we also have the problem of device addiction to tackle. Some people suggest that kids should only own a device when they are emotionally able to soothe themselves without depending on a device. Digital citizen are not dependent or addicted to a device because they got devices latter in life.
_{... you can only act as a VPN if you understand the technology... Image credit: Pixabay}

If you are a digital immigrant and you are really not interested in technology, you are encouraged to engage with technology for the sake of your kids. Remember that they are only technology smart but when it comes to life, they are very naive. While some will recent your presence in their cyberspace, your wisdom and experience will help detect stalkers, pedophiles and cyber bullies.

Conclusion

Learn the technology, get involved so you can increase your chances of providing your kids with better protection which extends into cyberspace.