Digital on-ramps: The practical advice parents need
Issue #18
Once upon a time, I was frustrated and anxious about introducing tech to my kids. I had lots of questions and a pit in my stomach whenever I watched my daughter use the family iPad. Over the years, I had internalized the dominant narrative about screen time, and as a result, I had a nagging sense that I was doing something wrong any time I gave my kids access to tech. But I was also conflicted because, in my gut, I knew technology could be a force for good in our home.
A big part of my frustration stemmed from the fact that there wasn't a lot of high-quality, thoughtful tech advice for parents. When you googled screen time, all you got was a list of alarmist headlines and suggestions on how to limit it. I've long thought that parents needed better resources and more options for introducing tech to their children, which is why Diana Graber's writing resonated so strongly with me. Her book, Raising Humans in a Digital World, is a nuanced take on technology, and the balanced perspective that parents sorely need. She published it while I was still researching for my own book, and her insights were refreshing and invaluable.
In particular, her idea of a "digital on-ramp" is a helpful one for parents: "Just as a freeway on-ramp provides a safe way for a vehicle to accelerate to the speed of fast moving traffic, a digital on-ramp offers the same approach to the information superhighway." Graber notes that parents are craving concrete ideas on what, when and how to introduce tech to their kids, and suggests that digital on-ramps create an age-appropriate way to stoke kids' tech curiosity. They focus on the positive uses of tech (of which there are many!) and help create healthy habits and behaviors.
Graber offers a few examples of digital on-ramps in her book, like video calling family together, playing kid-friendly video games together or doing research for a school project together. But at the core, it's an adaptable concept that encourages parents to introduce technology slowly, in a controlled environment—and with parental guidance. We take this idea to heart at Kinzoo, and our sincere hope is that our app can be a digital on-ramp. Screens have the incredible power to connect us with far-away family and friends, but digital communicating is a skill that must be cultivated. Kids need tools to help them along and way. And the idea of digital on-ramps is the empowering kind of advice parents need more of.
A deeper dive
Here are a few helpful resources in case you want to really dig into today's topic:
Diana Graber is the founder of Cyberwise and Cybercivics. She has a Master's Degree in Media Psychology and Social Change, and if you haven't read her book already, I highly suggest you check it out!
Cyberwise is an excellent tech resource—and Diana Graber publishes some awesome stuff there, too. This article about TikTok challenges is great for any parent that's curious about the way some content creators are challenging each other to do strange things on the platform. As Graber explains, some of it is silly and some is downright dangerous.
TL;DR
Too long; didn't read. It shouldn't be a full-time job to keep up on industry news, so here is a mercifully quick summary of some other notable developments:
The "digital world" is much like the real world, and there's often an online equivalent for real-life phenomena. Sadly, that seems to be the case with self-harm among kids. There's a tendency among some children to "cyber-bully themselves," where they create alternate social media accounts and post hurtful comments on their own profiles. There are many reasons kids might self-harm online, but this article offers some great expert advice on what parents should look out for.
The pandemic has been wreaking havoc on the education system since schools initially shut down last March. And all that disruption has taken a toll on kids' math skills in particular. That's likely because it's a bit trickier for parents to support math learning at home—but there are some awesome tech tools that can help. This Washington Post article has some great suggestions (both digital and analog) for helping kids stay on top of their learning.
And lastly
Here are a few more pieces of original writing from me and my team—just in case you're keen for more:
Okay, we didn't write this one, but Common Sense Media is the gold standard when it comes to rating kid-friendly apps and content, and they've just reviewed the Kinzoo app! We're thrilled that the team recognized all the hard work we've put in to make Kinzoo safe and fun for kids and families. Check out the full review here!
A lot of us at Kinzoo are parents ourselves, and lately, we've seen a lot of questions about the Nintendo Switch console in our parenting groups. So, we sat down to take a look at the safety features and parental controls. Here's our handy guide to the settings—and some other suggestions that will help you get the most out of the console.
Okay, that's it from me until next week. If you enjoyed this newsletter, and know of another parent who would as well, please feel free to forward it along.