This is the start of a conversation that needs to happen within families.  Alot of the scare tactics behind the news stories about “Your child and Facebook” can be avoided through early and frank education.  Parents, please don’t let your fear of the unknown keep you from helping your kids grow.

Tac, I think this is spot on for getting them started, but the hard part for me is managing how much time they spend using the technology.  My kids all love using the computer and various games and are getting ready to start using email, etc.  They already spend more time than I really want using technology.  Adding more options to it makes it even harder.  That is where the education aspect becomes even that much more important.

That’s a good point  but I like to break apart their various activities. Are they using technology to do homework, email their grandparents, reading a book on the Kindle app, or to play video games? That’s no different than when we were kids doing homework, writing letters to family, reading a choose your own adventure book or playing Atari. Yes we should manage their overall “screen time” and we regularly make sure the kids are outside being active, but what they are doing is far more important than what medium (digital or analog) they are using. 

Great post. It reminded me a bit of this oldie but goodie from 1996: How to help someone use a computer http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/how-to-help.html Great insights like:

“Nobody is born knowing this stuff.”

“You’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a beginner”

I’m curious, at what age did you get them the technology? I have a 4 year old who plays with my iTouch a bit (amazing to see how quickly he figured out the slide to unlock, etc.), and plays with simple computers at daycare, but we haven’t introduced him to much more yet, ’cause he loves reading, doing all the physical stuff that pre-schoolers love, etc.

Just curious if you found there was a magic moment/tipping point when it was clear that your kids were “ready” (for lack of a better word) to both play with tech effectively and for you to have “teachable moments” with them about the tech.

@marcopolis:disqus for me it’s really depended on the kid. Having me for a dad my kids have just grown up with this stuff. We gave my daughter her first cell phone at 10 or 11 because that’s when she started having after school activities but the phone didn’t have data yet. That next Christmas we got her a netbook (along with her own email account) so she could start doing her homework and while she’s been an eager adopter and user she doesn’t use it every day, we even had her on Facebook when she was 12 (yes a violation of their TOS) but she didn’t use it that much. But now that she’s getting ready to turn 13 she’s a lot more interested in being connected. 
My son, 9, by contrast has been fascinated with tech for years and has been hounding us for his own phone or something and was by far the most eager to get his tablet. He’s also been the most independent and figures things out the fastest. Because of this and because he’s the one most likely to get himself in trouble somehow he’s the one I’ve taken the time to talk with and set up does and don’ts. 

The youngest, 7, is excited but doesn’t get it all yet. That’s kind of the great part about some of these devices like tablets, is that they’re powerful enough they can do lots, not too technical that they need much training and it really kind of scales to their ability. I just make sure I watch what they’re doing and look for those opportunities to educate.