On-line Privacy

While I was taking the class, somebody or the professor brought a question about parents monitoring what their children do on computer. One of my classmates answered “My parents thought if I didn’t let them know what I was doing, they thought I was doing something inappropriate.”

Although my parents never said this, had my parents said the same thing, I’d strongly go against them. Every one goes through puberty and I was one of them. I only needed little privacy but it wasn’t anything inappropriate. I chatted with my friends about what song we sang in karaoke (teenagers are legally allowed to hang out in karaoke in Korea), how we spent our lunch time, who is the boy I like, etc. It was just my personality to keep it to myself. Although my mom sometimes sneaked into my window through terrace to make sure I am not watching porn, I am glad my parents had strong trust compared to other parents.

Some parents are just too concerned that their children may lack the ability to cope with inappropriate contents online. But I want them to know that children are learning through experience and they are so much stronger than parents may think.

 

New toys

There are new toys that did not exist when I was young: robot, electric devices, machine that can sing and dance etc. Parents buy them expecting these would attribute more creativity for their kids. However, I believe this can negatively affect children.

When children are young, they do symbolic play. For example, they would pick up their shoe and pretend as if it were their mobile phone. It is their phone in their imagination. This imagination is what is needed and what makes children creative. However, well made toys can actually be everything children need. This makes children stop imagining.

So I would definitely think about what is really good for my children and be very careful about buying them toys.

First Mobile Phone

When I was a teenager, I got my first mobile phone as I became 7th grade. (In Korea, we enter middle school when we become 7th grade.) On the day of entrance ceremony, my dad bought me the first mobile phone in my life. It meant celebration. It meant permission for little bit more of freedom and privacy. Back then, not every single person had it.

Nowadays, even my little cousin who goes to kindergarten has her own mobile phone. The average age of getting first mobile phone has significantly dropped. It is awkward to not have one. Not having one may be something to set them apart from the others. It doesn’t mean anything special anymore. But before buying one for their children, parents have to consider the side effects of it.

Facebook friend with your DAD?

With the era of technology, keeping parents’ eyes on kids online has become part of their parenting role. Some parents attempt to be Facebook friends online.

I thought about this idea: becoming Facebook friend with my dad. No, I wouldn’t like this at all. It’s not like I’d post something bad. I don’t upload explicitly sexual images, I don’t flirt with guys online, I don’t swear or nothing I’d be ashamed for my dad to see. But it’s just privacy I’d want to keep for myself and my friends. Something that my dad doesn’t have to know. Thanks to parents, they don’t do SNS and they trust me enough not to attempt to make Facebook account just to watch me.

Of course, there are some pros. First of, parents and their kids can build stronger bond based on Facebook. It will bring issues and topics for them to talk about. They can possibly share privacy otherwise they would not bring up. Second, parents can trust their kids. Whey parents become Facebook friends, they are morel likely to know what their kids are doing right now, what kind of friends they hang out with, what places they usually go etc. By actually taking a look at what their kids are doing, parents are relieved.

Is it parents’ role to watch their kids online? Parenting role and children’s privacy, which should come first? These are the questions you need to think of if you’re about to be parents in technology prevalent world.

Baby cry translation app

Babys have no other mean than crying to communicate with outer world. Once baby starts to cry, it becomes mother’s responsibility to find out what the baby wants. While some mothers claim that they can understand what the baby is crying for, experts say that it is impossible for mothers to tell the difference between cries. http://www.parents.com/baby/care/crying/understanding-baby-cries1/#page=1

Because it is important that baby’s needs are met, and in order to help confusing mothers, there is an app that translated baby’s cry into adult’s language. The app analyzes the pitch and frequency of baby cry. Manual is simple. You turn on the app and place where the smartphone can detect baby’s cry. http://www.livescience.com/8036-app-translates-baby-cries.html

Although I would not recommend relying too much on this app, because there should be more inteaction between mother and baby than interpreting baby’s cry via app, it surely is the progress technology has brought into parenting.