Don’t Lose Your Balance! Raising the ‘Z’ Generation

Whenever I meet teachers and parents for the first time, I usually sense fear and suspicion.  Here’s an ‘IT geek’.  He wants to turn my children into soulless cyborgs who can’t write with a pen and don’t do any sport, who just sit in front of a screen all day and night and have no social skills.  Keep away!  Of course, there are those educators who do the rest of us no favours here – those who still call themselves ‘IT Evangelists’ and the like.  Even I am scared of them, and rightly so.  But they are, thankfully, a dying breed.  What we really need to be teaching is balance.

It has long been the case that schools are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, aimed at ensuring that every child realises his or her potential and is equipped with the knowledge, skills, attributes and values necessary to flourish in a future where the only certainty is uncertainty.   We know that human talent is incredibly diverse and we have a duty to nurture and develop the strengths of every child, whatever those strengths may be.  This can only be achieved within a balanced curriculum and by ensuring children also achieve that balance outside of school.

Of course, there is no doubt we now live in a digital world and, according to the European Commission, by 2020, 90% of jobs will need digital skills.  Add in the potential of technology to transform how children and adults learn and it is clear the game has changed.   And parents are also recognizing the benefits.  In a recent US study of 2-10 year olds, more than half (57%) of parents said that their children had learned “a lot” from educational media.  As part of a relevant, broad and balanced curriculum, schools need be using such educational media, teaching digital skills and also ensuring children know how to learn effectively using digital technologies - and, of course, supporting and engaging parents in this transformation. 

But balance is vital.  Another US  study, this time of media in the lives of 8-18 year olds, found that children and teenagers spent an average of more than 50 hours per week on media outside of school – and that did not include schoolwork!  The same report found that one third of the children had internet access in their bedrooms.  Also, clinical studies suggest that technology addiction is as real as other forms of addiction - reports of teenagers becoming so engaged in online gaming that they forget to wash, eat and sleep, are not uncommon.   As with the threat of any addiction, we really do need to take this issue very seriously. 

In many ways, technology has transformed the world and schools are now embracing the best tools and methods to improve their students’ learning.  Digital skills and learning to learn digitally are key elements of the modern curriculum in forward thinking schools.  What hasn’t changed, however, is the need for our children to become well-rounded citizens, who know how to be successful and to live happy, healthy lives in perfect balance.  Now, for that, I’ll be an evangelist.  

Digital Balance: Top Tips for Parents of ‘Z’ Generation Kids

1.       Model the behaviours you want to see in your children.  If you are constantly checking emails and Facebook on your phone, this sends a powerful, negative message to your children.  Put your own technology out of reach (e.g. upstairs) at certain times when the kids are around. 

2.       Have dinner together whenever possible.  Switch everything off and talk!

3.       Build relationships, based on shared interest, practice, accountability and trust.  Take an interest in your children’s technology and what they do with it.  Play the games they play and familiarise yourself with the sites they use.  The more interested you are in what interests them, the easier it will be to share in other, non-digital activities together.

4.       Keep all technology, including chargers, in shared areas.  There is simply no justification for children to have any sort of screen in their bedrooms.  That’s where they really need to sleep.

5.       Plan activities with and for your children that do not involve screen-based technology.  From karate to cooking, ballet to basketball, it is essential that we actively help our children to engage in a wide range of learning and leisure opportunities.