A Millennial's Guide To Healthy Internet Habits For Our Kids
Guiding Our Kids' Digital Journey
Millennials are no strangers to social media or chronic internet behaviors. We were practically raised on what modern social media would become from MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, and other online sites in the mid-2000s. Still, our habits back then seem tame compared to how our kids are connected today. We are tasked with helping them navigate a more saturated online environment with no end to connectivity. To better understand the modern digital landscape our kids face, we need to contrast our internet upbringing as millennials.
Millennials VS. Our Kids’ Internet Experience
For us millennials, early social media provided endless opportunities to explore, interact, and build connections through shared user-generated experiences.
The difference is that our internet activity took place after school or whenever we got home because it required a computer with internet access. We had limited time at the end of the day for online activities. Not to mention the internet was slow and didn’t have as much incentive to go online as it does today. Most of us were teens or preteens when we first explored the internet.
In contrast, our kids are exposed to the internet during their primary years of development. They remain connected online most of the day with smart devices like school-provided tablets. Our kids have endless exposure to online content at their fingertips. Access to the internet for information has many benefits for learning. However, information overload from constant stimulation is known to impact our children’s willingness to learn or even their ability to critically think, question, and understand for themselves.
Content that lacks any beneficial value is what our kids see most of the time because it’s shown instantly by opening an app. We had to put effort into searching for entertaining content because user-generated content only had a few mediums. Understanding the differences between our internet experience compared to our kids’ is crucial to setting healthy online habits for them.
Keep Them Entertained Offline
We millennials know firsthand the addictive nature of consuming online content. We created the internet culture that directly affects our kids today. Our duty isn’t to deprive them of the internet but to guide their journey so they get the most benefit out of it during their development. We can do this by influencing activities that offset the stimulation they get from online content, promoting incentives that provide balance with practical skills, and being involved with their interest.
Short-form content is addicting to kids because they naturally have short attention spans. Here are some practices that provide similar stimulation, all while benefiting their development.
Interactive Story Telling
Reading books or telling stories to kids is nothing new. We millennials tend to fall short of delivering that bedtime story experience to our kids because the modern lifestyle drains us to the point that it’s easier to let our kids watch something on YouTube. That convenience comes at the cost of our kids’ reliance on screens. Interactive storytelling allows kids to exercise their cognitive creativity instead of passive consumption. They can immerse themselves in the dynamic world-building that engages stimulation while simultaneously allowing them to exercise cognitive abilities for their development and build a stronger relational bond with us parents.
(AI Assisted Image)
Incentivizing Chores For Internet Time
Rewarding kids for doing chores and finishing homework are practices that parents have been doing for decades. However, there are new challenges for us now that instant gratification from online content can lead to addictive behaviors for our kids. I was addicted to online games like Runescape and World of Warcraft growing up. My addictive behaviors prompted my parents to set boundaries like time limits and requiring me to finish homework and chores before I could play games. This resulted in the habit of completing tasks before leisure entertainment, which I practice today.Parents understand the benefits of incentivizing daily tasks in exchange for internet access to promote healthy screen habits, self-control, patience, and academic proficiency for the kids. Kids will get the same rewarding effects that mindless scrolling gives. They will feel more accomplished when they complete their tasks to gain more time for online activities. Additionally, their academics can improve naturally from completing their homework ahead of time.
Encourage And Support Their Interest
We know children dream big. Many of those dreams are driven by the environments they are exposed to. The benefits of online content they consume introduce them to subjects they can build interest in. We can leverage those interests by providing the resources within our means that will allow them to get their childhood dreams closer to reality. Some of us growing up might have been subject to being enrolled in music programs or sports by our parents against our own will. This resulted in some resentment because we didn’t get the support we needed for our interests. It’s crucial to give our kids the support they need for their interest to optimize their development. They are more likely to commit, build practical skills, and learn how to overcome obstacles if they are involved in activities they are genuinely interested in. More importantly, they will learn the value of work, patience, and dedication required to get to higher levels of skills. They won’t fully grasp those concepts if they only see the picture-perfect end results without the work put into it from online content.Â
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Establish Internet Boundaries For Healthy Development
As millennials who came of age during the rise of the internet, we know the addictive nature of consuming digital content can be. We must establish a balance of healthy internet habits for our children at an early age.Setting reasonable boundaries and offsetting tech-reliance behaviors with engaging in offline activities lays the foundations for our kids’ long-term success. We can nurture their cognitive abilities, instill discipline by incentivizing daily tasks, and support their interest in developing productive skills and perseverance.
We millennials need to be proactive in our children’s tech habits. Their success starts with healthy habits we establish with them early on.
