ROSEVILLE -- Dr. Angela Chanter, a local psychologist who works with youth and families, sees a growing need for clearly defined rites of passage in the network culture - such as when to issue a cell phone and criteria for acceptable usage, ground rules for age-appropriate Internet powered functions (such as camera and social media accounts), etc.
“Every parent community has an opportunity to determine the events in childhood that can become rites of passage to give life more meaning for their children,” Chanter said, “Parents experience tremendous peer pressure to allow kids to have access to cyber tools and products and it simply feels like ‘caving in’ when you finally decide to allow it without a good framework for creating a balance of on-line and off-line experiences.”
Chanter says many equip their children with all the latest gadgets and cyber tools so they will be “tech savvy"; they are trying to keep up with their child’s peers. And yet according to Chanter the earlier a child learns a technology skill, such as how to text and create and maintain a Facebook page, will not give them an edge later in life - and it could be harmful without the right perspective.
Chanter encourages parents of their children’s friends to get together and establish some norms for cyber technology such as when to issue a mobile phone and some of the criteria for keeping the privilege.
If your child’s friend community and their parents are in the same ballpark as far as how to behave on line, and setting healthy boundaries, like turning them off at night so the kids are not keeping each other from a good night sleep, then there is a greater chance that children will develop a healthy attitude about the meaning of the tool and off-line, real relationships.
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