I have my own child and while he is still learning to walk, the future with technology does concern me. We are not only further integrating our lives and dependency on it, but we are starting this dependency ever more younger. Will my son’s childhood be full of football and horseplaying in the backyard or stuck indoors in front of the television? For parents, youth workers, and anyone else that works with teenagers and younger, here are some statistics you need to know about.
- The averageteen gets a cell phone between the age of 12 and 13 and 50% of them use it for the Internet.
- 72% of parents worry about how their child interacts with strangers online.
- It should be noted that 70% of teens say they’ve hidden their online behavior from their parents, be it duplicated email, social media profiles, or clearning the browser history.
[HT Youth Leaders Academy | Image via OnlineClasses.org]
What are you doing with technology to protect the children and teens you are responsible for?
ChurchTechToday.com says
Whew – that’s a frightening infographic! With four kids . . .I’m worried about this too, but we still try to limit the tech time and play outside as much as we can. Of course, my 10 year old begs to play Minecraft on any/every device . . . or Wii . . . or other computer games, but he’s great about getting homework done and interacting with others, so 30 minutes or so playing a game isn’t a huge deal at this point.
On a side note, many parents return to work outside the home and are gone in the afternoons when their tweens and teens are home – this is usually when the tech abuse begins, so have the battle is just being present and aware of what your kids are doing, when they are doing it. – Just my two cents 🙂
seventy8Productions says
Totally agree. Most people push for a software solution and I push for a relational one!
HeatherLeaCampbell says
Wow, this is good stuff. I’m not surprised by any of it, though.
seventy8Productions says
You are in a unique situation with your current job, what do you guys do if anything?