P PA CENTURYRENTING T
21st reparing Kids for the Future by Meredith Montgomery
oday’s children have more opportunities to change the world than ever before. Teenagers are
organizing global activism movements, LEGO lovers are mastering robotics and young entrepreneurs are launching successful businesses before they’re old enough to drive. But for Mom and Dad, this fast-
paced, technology-driven childhood looks drastically different from their own. To help kids thrive, parents must learn to mindfully embrace today’s modern advances without losing sight of timeless virtues and skills such as kindness, creativ- ity and critical thinking.
Finding Balance Aſter-school hours used to be filled with outdoor free play in which kids indepen- dently developed their natural capabilities as self-learners and creative problem- solvers. Te Children & Nature Network has reported that just 6 percent of children ages 9 to 13 play outside on their own. Instead, stress and anxiety are on the rise in our competitive culture as many kids attempt to balance heavy homework loads with an overflowing schedule of extracur- ricular activities. With the ability to connect to the
world at our fingertips, Tomas Murray, director of innovation for Future Ready Schools, in Washington, D.C., notes that devices can also disconnect us from those right next to us. “It’s a massive struggle to find balance and mindfulness, but it’s vitally important. How oſten do we see an AP [advanced placement] kid that is falling apart emotionally? As parents, we need to recognize that kids have a lot on their plate—more than ever before.”
24 Greater Oklahoma/OKC Edition Salt Lake City-based Courtney Carver,
author of Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More, worries that parents are creating résumés for a life their children probably don’t want. On her
BeMoreWithLess.com website, she focuses on living with less clutter, busyness and stress to simplify life and discover what really matters. “It’s challenging to maintain close connections when we’re overwhelmed with what’s in our inbox, or on Instagram or what the kids are looking at online,” she says. On her own journey to practical
minimalism, she gained a greater sense of presence with her daughter. “When you can pay attention to a conversa- tion and not feel distracted and antsy, especially with young kids, that is everything,” says Carver.
Managing Technology Te ubiquity of digital devices is a defining dif- ference between today’s youth and that of their elders, mak- ing it difficult for parents to relate and know how to set boundaries. As senior parent- ing editor at nonprofit Common Sense Media,
NaturalAwakeningsOKC.com
It’s a massive struggle to find balance and mindfulness, but it’s vitally important. How often do we see an AP [advanced placement] kid that is falling apart emotionally?
~Thomas Murray
Caroline Knorr helps parents make sense of what’s going on in their kids’ media lives. “We can think of media as a ‘super peer’: When children are consuming it, they’re looking for cues on how to behave and what’s cool and what’s normal.” Parents need to be the intermediary so they can counterbalance the external messages with their own family’s values. Today’s devices are persuasive and
addictive. “As parents, we need to set bound- aries, model good digital habits and help
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