How Technology Can Help with Parenting

How Technology Can Help with Parenting

This is a collaborative feature

Technology has a reputation for damaging parents’ relationships with their children due to children being constantly distracted by televisions, tablets, and phones. We worry that their devices and games are having a negative effect on their ability to concentrate and communicate with us. However, have we really considered the benefits of technology when it comes to parenting?

Smart Homes

One of the most recent technological developments is the emergence of the Smart Home. Smart homes allow you to control your heating, lighting, and other electrical devices remotely. This can be really handy when it comes to having more control over how often your children use their devices. Children often go against their parents’ wishes and this can be particularly difficult when it comes to limiting their ‘screen time’ as younger generations do tend to have better technical knowledge than their parents. However, you can finally get the upper hand by having the power to turn off their devices from wherever you are if you have a smart home.

Television and Tablets

It is true that televisions and tablets can be a real pain when it comes to making sure your children are leading healthy lifestyles. Most children would prefer to sit in front of the TV than go and play outside or socialize and this becomes particularly problematic when they reach adolescence. One way to make sure they are benefitting from TVs and tablets is by helping them to make the most of the huge variety of different programmes and activities on there for them. 

We are all guilty of letting our kids use tablets on car journeys for a bit of peace and quiet, or when we’re desperate for some time to get on with work our household chores. In this sense, they can be really useful and if you take the time to help them choose a stimulating, educational program or activity it can really help to ease that guilt.

Social Media

Particularly for those with teenage or young adult children, social media can be a fantastic way to help you connect and communicate with them. For a generation that are glued to their phones there’s no excuse not to reply to a text or WhatsApp message from you. Apps like Facebook and Instagram can also help you stay up to date with what is happening in their lives, if you don’t see them as often as you would like. 

Google

For parents, quick access to important information can be crucial. Technology has enabled us to have answers to any question at out fingertips, whether it’s how to treat a burn or how to handle signs of depression in your child. Technology can really be a lifesaver for parents and help to guide us through the tricky maze of parenting.

Organisation

I don’t know about you, but I have become heavily reliant on the ‘reminders’ app and ‘notes’ app on my phone. As a parent you have a million and one responsibilities and it is a miracle if you manage to remember everything you’re supposed to do. Technology helps us to centralise our organisational procedure as well as being able to have it all on one portable device wherever we go. Thought of a great birthday present? Jot it down. Forgotten that you daughter doesn’t need to be picked up from school until 5pm today because of a dance rehearsal? Don’t worry, your phone will remind you at the time you’d usually set off to fetch her. 

Technology can be a real help to parents. As long as you enforce some limits, technology can give you peace and quiet, more control over how much ‘screen time’ your children are having, can help you connect and communicate with them, can help you access important information, and can help you to organise your hectic schedule. For more parenting tips, take a look around mummybarrow.com for more information .

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