There has been a lot of articles relating to the recent study that adults check their smart phones every 12 minutes and look at their smart phone within 5 minutes of waking up.
This may be true yet the media has used this to shame parents… and it must stop.
Smart phones, tablets and other internet devices are the future and often maximise the enjoyment and productivity of our lives.
Although media has stated that by using our smart phones more, this has a negative impact on our children, let me tell you a few ways that it has benefited MY life:
1.I typically shop online:
-When my child is asleep, I order the weeks food shop. It save so much time not trekking to the supermarket and loading and unloading shopping. I am never temped by deal, I only buy what I need. I am able to see what is in stock/seasonal and Pinterest meal ideas while I shop. Also, being a full time working single mum, I am able to spend my time off work focusing on my child, not chores.
2.I have engaged my relatives in smartphones:
For my grandads 80th birthday, I bought him a smartphone. From this we are able to communicate more freely, send pictures, contact each other without having to call. I see him every week for a real conversation! But some moments need to be shared instantly. After a year and a half with his smartphone, I know he wouldn’t be without it. He is able to keep in touch with other family members, and is always astonished to receive picture from our holidays abroad.
- Google searches for days out:
If you do find me on my phone instead of paying attention to my child, it will be because I am looking up opening times, or the weather at Alton towers today. No longer do we have to check the phone book to make sure the play centre is open from 9.30. Smart phones have made it easier for everyone to be able to plan and enjoy their days better. Who remembers as a child, their parent taking them to a fun fair or cinema only for it to be closing in 10 minute or no movies suitable for children on at that time – just me?!
4.Photos
I am all for living in the moment but sometimes your child is so adorable/funny you have to take a picture there and then. Being a single parent, this is so important for my ex-husband and I. We both care about our child and always send each other photos of them when we are not together. My child recently went on a weeks holiday with her father. The longest we have ever been apart! She can’t speak yet (apart from bee, bubbles, fish etc) so phoning would be pointless. However, with the help of smartphones, I was able to have a photo update of the whole holiday – knowing she was happy and safe.
- Mums net
This site has offered myself and my friends invaluable advice. Yes your GP will prescribe your child disgusting tasting antibiotics , but only mums net will help you find out how to make sure your child actually takes them (a spoonful of medicine followed by spoonful of yogurt – all babies love yogurt). Sometimes parenthood can be isolating and embarrassing – if your child comes home from nursery with impetigo , you are bound to get it too! And the internet provides a way of resolving issues and talking out problems from many points of view.
5.Filling time:
One of my biggest fears is not making the most of time , not being productive. There are some moments where you have nothing to do and need to fill with an activity – I used to pick up a colleage on the way to work, after letting her know I was waiting, she would always be another 5 minutes – rude right! However, I found a way to be productive, I would clean my car in this time – I had no time for this outside of work. I would often make HER wait while I finished wiping my glove compartment! Anyway, last week, I found myself baby free, waiting for a doctors appointment (blinkin impetigo!). Luckily I had my phone and caught up on work emails and browed Pinterest. No time wasted. Unless my doctors surgery had a view of Dovedale form their waiting room, I don’t think I missed much! To my horror I then had to wait to receive the prescription at the pharmacy (does anyone know why this always takes so long?) and again I was able to catch up with my sister on WhatsApp – efficiency achieved –few.
6.Fuddy duddies still amongst us:
Even though technology has advanced so much that we are even able to pay in shops with our watches some types of people still resist the need to incorporate digital devices into our daily lives. I spotted a trainee teacher on my newsfeed citing an article which states “ stop letting your children use digital devices at home as it limits their concentration in the classroom”. My answer to this would be – put down your chalk and engage your learners with a digital platform. During my teacher training I engaged in an experiment involving a programme called Prezi (please check this out everyone) It is an interactive collaborative answer to PowerPoint. I managed to enable students to work together on projects and take charge of their own learning – much more engaging than me lecturing them and then creating a handout –snooze.
It is 2000 and frickin 18 we should be embracing this technology. Yes I check my phone as soon as I wake up, because it is also my alarm clock. I do not check my phone regularly during the day as it is not necessary for my work but for some people it is. It is their sat nav, their email, their weather station, their calendar, their training module and always their social connections. Please can we stop shaming people for using their smartphones. Although not everyone may use their phone /internet as much as I do, I know some will understand the benefits of utilising this amazing technology. So lets not allow the media shame us, and especially parents. We are doing the best we can. My grandmother lived and lives without any form of technology. She told me that she (and other mothers) put their children outside during the day – so they could get on with household chores. I know I would rather spend a few moments online to sort the weekly shop, sort my car insurance, book a table than ignore my child altogether. Obviously we are a long way away from that, we want to stimulate our children so they can be the best versions of themselves. The only way we can do this is to embrace the technology of our age, searching for baby yoga classes, buying veggies online and a scanning mums net for chicken pox symptoms. As my hero Garth Algar would say “get with the net!”