Today my 4 year-old learned how to use the Amazon Alexa.
I’m kind of surprised it took this long. I think it had something to do with his voice being hard to decipher and the device just hasn’t picked up his requests clearly enough. Until tonight that is.
When “The Wheels on the Bus” started playing in the bathroom without me, I knew the world had just changed.
Maybe a disclaimer first; I’m not anti-device or anti-screen. I consider the world these kids will grow up in will be one where technology and other user interfaces are ubiquitous. They may as well grow up using these tools which are going to be around them in ever more sophisticated iterations for their entire lives.
But tonight that Pandora’s Box was opened.
And it opened up another front in how I need to live and act as their father. While it’s perhaps premature, it made me think of their future relationship with technology. How they grow up in a connected world is part of my responsibility. How will I help them navigate this aspect of life?
How do we teach them yin and yang when the lines are so blurred?
How do I teach them these devices can be used for the greater good; to send a word of encouragement to one in need of kindness, to deliver a gift to someone we value, to connect with those who teach us, inspire us and cause us to reach for the stars? How do I deal with the inevitable drawbacks, such as online bullying and the easy availability of things like pornography and misinformation?
Then again, it’s Saturday.
Maybe I should just go back to listening to the “Wheels on the Bus” and worry about the porn-blockers later.
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