How Technology Impacts Your Relationship with Your Child

What would you do if you lost your smartphone?

Scary thought isn’t it?

Up until a few years ago, the word “iPhone” was a tiny part of our language.

And the word itself certainly was not part of anything to do with being a mother or a parent of young children.

Yet today, smartphones are a pervasive bit of everyday technology owned by virtually all of the young moms (and parents, caregivers or grandparents) I meet. Even I have an iPhone.

In the short time that smartphones and other similar devices like iPads or tablets have been in existence, I’ve seen how they have transformed from a high-tech marvel to a babysitting device.

It’s easy to understand why. They’re fascinating for little kids and completely mesmerizing.

Put an iPad in the hands of a 3-year old and they intuitively know how to make it work. Put a texting device in the hands of an 8-year old and they are right at home.

On the surface, this ease that kids have with smartphones etc seems really cool.

But as a long-time child educator, I’m beginning to see how for kids, fascination with these devices isn’t healthy.

And as a parent coach, I’m beginning to see how these devices are negatively impacting relationships parents are having with their children.

For parents and kids alike,  smartphones etc interfere with their ability to express themselves to each other.

This week on my podcast, I talk about how this technology is negatively impacting parents’ relationships with their children and consequently negatively impacting their children’s development.

More info:

In my podcast I talk about this interview on CBC’s the Current with Sherry Turkle:
Smartphones hurt our face-to-face relationships

Here’s a followup to the CBC interview above (via The Current):
Toronto teacher blames smartphones for her badly-behaved students