Screen time. iPhones. Cyberbullying. Snapchat. Ever wonder if your parents had to deal with as many complicated issues as you do? The answer is no — ours is the first generation raising kids with technology that’s this immersive and all-consuming. There’s never been an instruction manual for parenting in the digital age — until now! And it’s already trending as the #1 bestseller among new school-age parenting releases! Written by Bark team members and resident tech experts Titania Jordan and Matt McKee, Parenting in a Tech World is a must-read for parents looking for answers to common questions like:
- How do you know when your child is ready for a smartphone?
- Which apps are the most dangerous for my 13-year-old?
- What do I do if I catch my child watching porn online?
This parenting book will also give you a refresher on psychology, history, and communications to better understand how we as a society got here. But the most important things you’ll learn revolve around how to have — and keep having — hard (but important) conversations with your child.
Read an Exclusive Excerpt
The following excerpt from Parenting in a Tech World is from a chapter about engaging your child in conversations that don’t just end in the usual “yeah” or “fine.” Asking the right questions is crucial to communication and — with the right prompting and followup — can lead to incredible insight into what’s going on in their lives.
Questions for opening up
What have you seen recently that was really interesting?
This is a great question to get an idea of what it is like inside your child’s world. What are they looking at? What are they focusing on? What concerns them? What is catching their attention? This question will let you know all of that and sometimes more. Some things will be trivial of course, but sometimes you will be shocked by their insight into the world around them.
What is the craziest thing your friends are doing right now?
When asking this question, it’s important to not make it sound accusatory or negative. You want to get positive “crazy” things as well as some boundary-pushing ones. The best thing about this question is it focuses attention on their friends. Friendships are becoming more and more important to your kid — how they talk about their friends can reveal a lot. Getting to know your children’s friends will show you a picture of the path your child is on. Your children won’t mind telling on their friends a little bit. It makes them look good by comparison. Doing so lets them gauge your reaction to how bad something is without actually having to do it. Remember, also, that what their friends are doing now, they’ll be doing soon — or may already be doing. In any case, this question gives you a window into a vital part of their world: their friends.
Can you teach me how . . . ?
Children love to show us things. When you allow yourself to be taught by your child, you are seeing them learn to communicate and explain things, and you are learning about areas that are important to them. Children love to show you how smart they are and they enjoy sharing things that excite them. When there is something in your life that your child is passionate about, one of the best things you can do as a parent is to ask your child to educate you about their passion. Sitting down to play Minecraft with your 8-year-old might seem painful, but it will mean the world to them and help you see if there are things you need to know. Is there an option for in-game chat with strangers? Is night mode the reason why my kid has nightmares about farming all of a sudden? You get the idea.
Parenting in a Tech World is currently available for purchase on Amazon for $24.99 and is chock full of more advice like what you read above. You can also check out the book’s website for more information and an exclusive video featuring Matt and Titania. We hope this timely parenting book helps you create a stronger relationship with your children, and in turn, enables you to better protect them as they navigate growing up in the digital age.
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Bark helps families manage and protect their children’s digital lives.
