What are your excuses for allowing children to spend 6 hours a day in front of a screen, watching things, without your supervision?
What is the content that a nine-year-old has to follow on social networks every day supposed to look like, so that his parents will finally get worried?
When will teachers finally understand the dangers of screens for younger children?
When should we start worrying?
By the way, do you know what your kids are watching on their phones or tablets? What content is available to them?
Or, an even better question would be: do you care to know?
Let me give you an example…
Yesterday, I saw what my students were watching during lunch break. A classmate took out his phone and a group of six students started watching a video. From my seat, I could hear the music. Very cheerful, I must say.
Then, all of a sudden, I heard the lyrics.
“What’s the matter, honey? Isn’t the bus coming? Don’t worry, hop in my car and I’ll show you around town!”
Naturally, I approached the group of students to watch the video. And neither the title, nor the song, nor the video, nor the text, are any more frightening than the icing on the cake. We’re no longer even shocked by what the kids are watching or listening to.
Because, well, everyone’s listening to this. The whole class.
Worst of all, it’s the end of the video. Three young, attractive, provocatively dressed girls end up in this stranger’s car. In fact, these three girls in high heels and miniskirts run to the car, jump in and drive off in an unknown direction, with an unknown man.
The video has 20 million views in just one month.
These, dear parents, are your children’s examinations of conscience.
These three girls have told your children that it’s perfectly normal to jump into a car with an unknown man, because there are no buses.
Twenty million views. That’s “only” half a million kids who’ve listened to the song 40 times. That’s a million parents for whom it’s a perfect fit. At least a million. Parents who aren’t interested in the world their children live in.
So parents, we ask you:
What are your excuses for allowing children to spend 6 hours a day in front of the screen?
Why do you let them watch such things?
- Don’t ask me, my son stares at the screen all day. But we too watched bad idols in the 90s and didn’t become antisocial, dangerous or stupid.
- God forbid, I let go once and was horrified. But the whole class is watching. Everyone’s on the screen so I can’t just forbid it!
- The school is to blame, phones should be banned from school. But I can’t control what goes on in my house!”
- I know, I asked… But my son said he watches these videos because they’re funny, but that he’s above it all. He made it clear that he would never do that.
Society is also to blame, as are the media that promote these videos.
It’s also the fault of the state, which doesn’t sanction such things, allowing videos with such messages to be placed, listened to, viewed and promoted without any problems. And even though these videos can be dangerous, we send them out into the world.
But, when you know, when you know well, that neither society, nor the state, nor the school will do anything for your child, until you do it yourself, then what’s stopping you from saying “I want to know what my kids are watching”?
- I want to get involved, I want to see what you’re listening to, I want to talk about it, I want to know why you like it.
- I want to know if it’s really a phase or if it will affect you significantly.
- I want to be part of your life every day, talking as much as possible and looking at the screen as little as possible.
- I want reality shows never watched in our house and music that sexualizes young people not listened to.
- I want us to have dinner together every day.
- I want us not to use the phones during dinner.
- I want you not to be in that half-million kids watching stuff like that.
But you need two things for that. Patience and commitment.
Do you have them for your kids?