In digital world, kids gain the upper hand
By Beth Teitell | GLOBE STAFF SEPTEMBER 05, 2013
It wouldn't be fair to say that Whitney Brown has completely given up on trying to pry her offspring from their respective electronic devices.
But there are only so many times she can tell 11-year-old Cole to stop playing a "Star Wars" game on the Wii, ask 18-year-old Adison to step away from Instagram, and remind Cole's twin, Spencer, to get off YouTube without spending her life at odds with her children.
So it would be fair to say that she has, well, sort of given up.
"Sometimes you just reach a point of exhaustion," said Brown, of Paxton. "It's a constant struggle, and I don't always have the energy."
Parents say they are as concerned as ever about their children spending too much time playing video games, texting, or uploading selfies to Facebook. But trying to keep track of that time is growing ever more complicated. Not only has the number of devices soared, the social landscape has shifted, with homework assignments and textbooks moving online - making it harder to know when screen time is frivolous.
Many parents say they feel so outmatched by their electronic and juvenile opponents that, in the words of one expert, "they're checking out of parenting in the digital domain."
..
If parents are feeling so overwhelmed, why doesn't it occur to them to stop paying for Internet access? If their children had to pony up for the service themselves, they would appreciate it a lot more and abuse it a lot less.
Bill Horne Moderator