Parenting in the age of Facebook

This the age of digital era. The internet has touched every aspect of our life. Our includes our children as well. We have gained a lot through the internet. But at what cost? This is the question which Marzia Hassan’s Parenting in the age of Facebook tries to explore.

Our children are unsafe in the virtual world. Excessive use of technology affects the children adversely. Even if your children are learning through the educational videos, their dexterity is taking a hit. Also for a child which is exposed to the digital world, real life and school become slow, colourless and boring. Thus the child is unable to focus on the studies. When everyone is glued to their screens, the family conversations have become a thing of the past. The children are exposed to sexual content and even bullied online. All of us post the pictures of our children online, don’t we? But do you know that these pictures are used by some child porn websites. Digital footprints are hard to erase and such acts may affect the future life of the child adversely.

The above are some of the evil effects of technology. The writing is supported by many case studies and researches. All of them are duly acknowledged. One of the studies in UK has reported that more than two-thirds of primary school children had neck and back pain. This was due to lack of physical activity and sitting continuously glued to the gadgets.

Quotes like ‘People who have so much of their personality invested in the Internet can’t really survive as whole individuals without it,’make the book interesting. The book also offers some solutions like restricted time and access to the internet, making dining table no mobile zone to save our children.

At places too much of references to research and studies mars the flow of the writing. Yet given the tremendous threat that the digital medium offers to the wellbeing of our children, this book is a must read.