I am reading a book now called the Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. The premise of the book is that a generation of children, the so called Gen Z, has been doomed to an increased predisposition to anxiety disorders and other mental health issues because of a shift in parenting strategies and even more than that exposure to addictive smart phone technology and social media.
Both of my kids are part of the Gen Z generation and they turned out pretty well although not without a few speed bumps along the way. As I read along in the book I think about how my girl and boy navigated the difficulties of their childhood and avoided the epidemic of mental health issues that the book correlates with the introduction of the smart phone.
The childhood I remember was more free flowing than the childhood Gen Z’ers experienced. As the book describes the Gen Z childhood is less play based with real people and more phone based with virtual people. I agree that children need free play for their brains to develop normally, especially around the time of adolescence. Cell phone and social media technology is great but maybe it is an impediment to young children trying to figure out relationships, conflict resolution and life in general.
How might you as a parent avoid the negative influence of a digital world for your young child? My suggestion is to take them camping at a bluegrass festival, for example the Father’s Day Festival at Grass Valley. The space is large and kids can roam around to their heart’s content with their friends within a fenced in area full of bluegrass fans who watch out for one another.
As a parent with small children I worried about the balance between letting my kids roam around and explore versus keeping them supervised 24/7 lest any predators lure them. My judgment was to let them roam around like I did when In was a child. How else does a kid learn the street smarts that they need in life later on? The only time I got worried at Grass Valley was when I lost track of my five year old son for a couple of hours. Thanks to Darby Brandli (who knows where all the kids might be) and the security staff my son and I were reunited without incident.
Speaking of Darby and the bluegrass kids she has fostered for many years, that brings me to another danger mentioned in the book I am reading. Since the introduction of the smart phone kids spend hours a day looking at a screen and worrying about their social media profile. How much time do you think kids participating in the Kids on Bluegrass program do that? I’m sure most of them are connected in off moments but mostly they are engaged with their peers trying to make music happen for yet another awesome concert on stage.
So here’s my advice. Buy your kid a fiddle. Put it in the closet and tell them they are not allowed to touch it and then let nature take its course. Then take them to a bluegrass festival.
