Parenting in the Age of the Internet

How should children be raised in the age of YouTube and Facebook? There was a time when playing in the streets alleviated some of the burden on parents and perhaps gave them a chance to catch their breath. But in a world of crowded streets and apartments where no one knows their neighbors and there is no street for playing, parents want to use technology, which has made other aspects of their lives easier, for parenting. However, they also know that giving mobile phones and tablets to children—while it keeps them entertained for hours—can disrupt their development. Finding a middle ground is not always easy. Baby Center, launched in 2001 by the well-known Johnson & Johnson company in San Francisco, is dedicated to pregnancy and infants. You can find everything from how to prepare for pregnancy, how to calculate the duration of pregnancy and delivery time, to what changes occur in the fetus each week on this website and its app on your smartphone. Cafe Mom, launched in 2006 in New York and has managed to attract over seventeen million dollars in funding, is a social network for mothers and expectant mothers. On this website, mothers can find mothers close to them, exchange experiences, and read expert opinions on children and parenting. In 2010, this company launched the Stir website, which they describe as like a conversation among friends in a cafe, where they might talk about anything from gossip about movie stars to parenting tips and shopping. If you have been to stores selling baby and children’s items, you probably know that some of the clothes and shoes designed for them are so cute and appealing that even if you don’t have children, you would want to buy them! This is a problem for parents too, but the issue is that children grow so quickly that they may not even have time to use these items. Kidzen is an online marketplace for second-hand children’s items. This app, launched in 2010 in Minneapolis, has managed to attract nearly half a million dollars in funding. Another popular app among parents is Chore Monster, which encourages children to ask their parents to assign them some household chores. Yes! You read that right! This app defines household tasks like cleaning their room, taking out the trash, sweeping the bathroom floor, etc., as a game for children. Parents and children can each log into this app separately. Parents assign tasks, and children receive them as an engaging and fun game that they must complete and then report back to the app. Based on the points they earn, they receive rewards. These rewards are predetermined by parents and can range from an ice cream to a trip to Walt Disney. This company was launched in 2011 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has managed to attract nearly four million dollars in funding. Now we come to an app that has generated a lot of discussion. Mama Bear, launched in 2012 in Tampa, Florida, is installed by both parents and children on their smartphones. This app tells parents where their children are at any moment (using GPS), when they enter or leave the house, who their new friends are on Facebook and Instagram and other social networks, what photos they are posting online, how fast they are driving, and even how fast their friends are driving if they are in their car. Parents can also provide a list of words that may be warning signs for children (words indicating they are being mocked by others or that are inappropriate for their age group) to this app, and if these words are detected, the app alerts them. Although Mama Bear has attracted over two million dollars in funding, it also has many critics. Many believe that this level of control over children by parents is not only unhelpful but also harms their natural development in society.