How Technology Can Harm Your Child
By Sharon Scott, LPC, LMFT
www.SharonScott.com

Many parents don’t realize the impact of technology on their children. Video games may improve hand/eye coordination, typing their theme on the computer may be easier than the “old-fashion” typewriter and meeting people from around the world via the computer may be interesting, but this marriage and family counselor is mainly seeing the down-side of technology.

My concern is that, without a conscious effort, technology can divide and separate families. Kids in my private counseling practice complain to me about their parents spending too much time on the computer or cell phone. Parents of teens worry about their child spending so much time in their room (why not?—they often have a complete array of entertainment in their bedroom). We tell our children to not talk to strangers and sometimes provide them easy means to do just that on the computer.

Kids desire to be on My Space and, according to television news programs, so do child predators. Kids are sometimes bullying each other on these sites and there was a recent suicide by a youth attributed to hurtful comments made on one such site. Companies are even checking out these sites for inappropriate activity or provocative language or pictures before hiring a prospective employee.

It’s recommended that the computer be in a common area so that you can monitor your child’s activity and don’t hesitate to check out their use. I suggest not putting a TV in your child’s room—you will see him more if he has to come into the family room to watch TV. Don’t drive while talking on the phone. Besides being dangerous, you are role modeling driving behavior that you probably don’t want your child to do when she begins driving. And, if your child has a phone, limit the usage and, should he go over his allotted minutes, take the phone away! During this next week check out the impact of technology on your family and, if you find it to have a negative effect, make the needed changes.

Copyright © 2008, Sharon Scott. No reproduction without written permission from author. Excerpted in part from Sharon’s classic parent guide: Peer Pressure Reversal: An Adult Guide to Developing a Responsible Child, 2nd Ed. (HRD Press, 800-822-2801).(www.hrdpress.com/SharonScott)

P.S. Please see my other column, SmileNotes.

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Sharon Scott, LPC, LMFT, is an internationally recognized family counselor with a private practice in north Texas. She is considered the leading expert on peer pressure having trained more than one million people across the U.S. and in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, Malaysia, the Philippines, Turkey, and Micronesia in her proven techniques. For information on bringing Sharon to your community or school to present one of her 29 dynamic workshops for children, teens, parents, or educators, please see her website www.SharonScott.com .

Sharon is the author of eight award-winning books including four on the topic of peer pressure.

A follow-up book for teens, When to Say Yes! And Make More Friends, shows adolescents how to select and meet quality friends and, in general, feel good for doing and being good.