Parenting Insights for our Social Media Age

Forbes Magazine recently released a summary of the findings of thirty-two studies that looked at how to parent children and teens in our current social media age. Among the findings was this: that a stricter parenting approach may be a better approach. The data suggests that parents who take more active parenting approaches results in better outcomes for their kids as opposed to those parents who take a more passive hands-off approach. The authors state that “overall, studies find that adolescents report less problematic use when parents use more parental monitoring, restrictive or active mediation, or strict internet and smartphone rules.” The research also found that when parents enlist stricter rules to limit overconsumption in the context of love and supportive dialogue, kids will spend less time using social media. This is good and encouraging news for Christian parents who take their Ephesians six responsibilities seriously, to bring their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.