Raising Children in a World with Social Media : Striking the Balance of the Parenting Prism

You can’t fight it, you can’t ignore it - social media has influence on the minds of children and has taken over attention of the world. Most people now do not get their news from TV nor traditional media, children are more inclined to watch YouTube and play Roblox than watch a traditional show. In some ways social media, has opened up avenues for information to be digested quicker and with more awareness, it has allowed for quick connection and online communities- yet the effects on children’s mind are just now beginning to be learned about, with Australia being the first country to ban social media for anyone under 16.

As the kids have grown up, I have come to terms that there is a triangle of influences on shaping a Childs mind with three main components:

• Environment

• Parents

• Self

PARENTING PRISM: ENHANCE THE ENVIRONMENT, EMPOWER THE PARENT, AND NURTURE THE SELF

When it comes to raising a child, it is important to look at all three and gauge /update the % of each depending on what characteristics the child develops. Social Media falls into the Environment bucket- depending on how much influence you believe environment has on your child’s development you can make a decision on limitations of this technology.

The Parenting Prism is constant balance with a need to adjust all the factors as situations occur. We will dive more into this concept in my future blogs. For now leave your thoughts -let me know what you think of the concept.

Until next time,

Katia