In This Day And Age Of Technology, Should A Parent Be A Child's Friend Or Discipinarian?

I believe being a parent in the 80s was so much easier than being a parent now. If you needed to communicate, it was via a landline or writing a letter.  ZTV would start at 330, and the shows were Sesame Street and Rainbow and Paddington Bear... I miss those shows actually. As a child, access to information was very limited. 

Being a parent of the 21st century is so hard. The TV shows, access to the internet, cellphones, emails, video games, there is just too much information available to our children 24 hours a day. No matter where you take your child, they are exposed to something. It could be the song  being played in a supermarket, or a music video being played in a store, or a video being played on someone's cellphone, or the activities at a birthday party.  No matter how much you try to protect your child at home, they will still be exposed to the world and its madness.

So what do you do? Do you allow your child to be exposed to it all and keep the relationship open, or do you protect them at all costs?

As we spoke about it on the show, I found myself struggling to answer the question. Do I walk with my child through all the madness of the world and let her explore and pray that she is open with me with everything she sees and hears? Or do I just protect her from everything and scare her if she explores the internet?

I think the following:

• You need a balance, you allow a child to explore, but be open with them and guide them. 
• You also have to be flexible to change. There are some things that I believe a parent needs to be strict and some situations where a parent needs to be flexible.  Parenting is always involving
• If you do not guide your child, someone else will. If you lie to your child, they will trust someone else to tell them.
• You need to set boundaries for your child to know what they can/cannot do. These boundaries help guide your child when they are away from you. Hopefully your child will know not to watch adut movies or sit and search certain sites on the internet. 

It is tough to control and protect what our children are exposed to, but it is important to be aware and alert as to what our children at all times. We just need to be on our toes all the time, and be our child's friend and protector.

It is tough being a parent of the 21st century, really tough.

I hope you all have  a great week!

Till Next Monday,

Stay Blessed!

#beingaparent