Are You a Technology Role Model?

New research indicates that while parents are spending over nine hours a day on devices, three out of every four believe they are a good technology role model.

Conducted by Common Sense Media, the report surveyed 1,786 parents of children between the ages of 8-18 with the intent of gaining an accurate perspective of adults’ attitudes and management in regards to media usage.

For starters, parents acknowledged that technology is a fantastic learning tool. In fact, 94% said that technology positively supports their child’s schoolwork and education, 88% said it helps their kids learn new skills, and 89% said it prepared students for jobs in their future.

On the other hand, parents were also very cognizant of a need for restrictions of their children’s usage of such tools. At 85%, most parents agreed that it’s important to monitor their children’s activity, 78% put a ban on mobile devices during family meals, and 63% do not allow devices during bedtime.

Perhaps most interesting though was that 78% of parents viewed themselves as good role models of technology despite spending almost 9 1/2 hours daily in front of screens, of which nearly 8 hours were devoted to personal use. However, Jordan Shapiro, a psychologist and contributor to Forbes, advised parents to not be over-confident.

“Even as I spend the majority of my time researching, thinking, and writing about the impact of digital and screen media on kids, I’m still not entirely convinced that I’m modeling the best image of digital maturity,” wrote Shapiro. “The fact is: ‘Do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do’ just doesn’t work. Ultimately, the behaviors we grown-ups model have much more impact on our kids than the words that we say.”

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