Teaching children values in the digital era
As the line between toys and technology blurs, how can parents teach their children valuesfor the virtual world, asks Tan Ly-ann
A quick scan of toy stores gives an indication of the sea change that is taking place: Barbie dolls with built-in digital cameras, mobile phones for toddlers and app-enabled Lego sets are now standard for today's playroom.
Amid this rush to put technology into little hands, we also need to prepare them for a digitally connected world that many of us can barely fathom as adults.
Some parents are worried that their children spend far too much time online
We face a digital divide - a chasm between those of us who grew up when Barbie's latest accessory was Ken, and this generation of digital natives for whom toys and technology are indistinguishable.
In the past we learned in the playground how to size up the neighbourhood bully, but how do we teach our children to do the same online, where such physical clues and cues don't exist? Parents, grandparents and teachers used to be important sources of wisdom for dealing with life. But it is often difficult to find positive role models who can provide real-world solutions to challenges in the virtual world - like personal identity, social responsibility and data security.
At a family conference in February hosted by the Asia Education Resource Consortium in Chiang Mai, Thailand, many parents expressed how lost they felt about trying to keep children safe online and about when to teach youngsters the citizenship skills they would need as they grow up.
Leung Wing-yee, a stay-at-home mother, wanted to create a safe environment online for her daughters Talia, 12, and Kezia, nine. But that was hard to do without always looking over their shoulders, says Leung, a participant at the conference. Limiting their internet use to Google Junior was too simplistic, even for homework and research.