How do you fill your kid's brain?

As we have moved into the technological age I feel kids have spent less time being kids. I know I am not alone on this thought. 50 years ago kids went outside and played, their mother would tell them to be back for dinner and the kids pretty much had the run of the neighborhood. When I was a kid my parents gave me street boundaries that made a square and I had to stay within those boundaries. As I got older my boundaries got bigger. This time allowed kids to learn how to be independent and think. It allowed kids to encounter disagreements and learn how to handle them, on their own, giving them a foundation that could be applied in the real world.

It just so happens that now we have gaming devices to fill that time so our kids aren’t bored. To make a long story short video gaming has decreased the social interactions we once had and has replaced them with scenes of violence. So our kids have learned one of the easiest ways to take care of a situation is through violence.

Some of the kids I’ve worked with have come to school after staying up all night playing video games with people from other countries and they look like they’ve been on a bender. One kid would even try to mimic the language of the people he was playing with online. One day he came in trying to speak Japanese and the next he had an Australian accent. Technology addiction is a whole other blog but I would guess this kid met the criteria.

Social media is another form of technology that has taken away the personal touch. When you have to say something to someone’s face you often change how you say it because they are right there to respond. On social media there is no immediate consequence for your comment and frankly people can be downright nasty. (I know this may shock you... but I have dealt with all this a few times as an educator.)

Since society has shifted, this new technology is encouraging people to stay inside, and reinforces people to be self-centered, selfish and rude, even at the cost of others. These traits are now seen as ok. In addition to this people have lost the ability to deal with conflict, learn to compromise and to acquire skills that will help us in the real world. It seems like violence has become the accepted norm, just watch the news if you don't believe me.

So why do I mention this? Well, Christmas is right around the corner and I want to encourage you to take a few minutes to decide how you want to feed your kid’s brain. Does technology have to be such a large part of their life? What can you do to encourage other interests such as science, history, school sports and clubs. Remember kids observe everything, have they learned this habit from you? Is this a shift that can occur in your family all together? Any small amount of time spent doing anything other then technology driven activities will help you in so many ways. As you purchase gifts this year please think about how you are feeding your child’s brain.