Creating Healthy Digital Habits

A wise man once said, “I have a dream”. 

Recently, I had two dreams.  

The first was that our staff morning teas had bottomless hash browns. 

The second was that every Donvale Christian College family sat down together and created their own Family Technology Agreement. As Proverbs 22:6 reminds us, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." 

So the first question is this – Did you do the 5-day Cyber Safety Week challenge? 

I get it, we’re all busy. So if you missed Monday-Friday’s dinner table discussion starters on Schoolbox News, you can find them here. A family tech agreement is a set of rules about how devices like smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs and gaming consoles are used in your home. 

According to esafety.gov.au, creating a family agreement together with your children will help you and your children have a smoother time with technology in your child's late Primary and early Secondary school years. Talking with your child about tech rules will develop their digital intelligence and build good habits around technology. 

Last Monday, our Primary Cyber Safety evening was a very uplifting time. One of the biggest takeaways for me was how committed our community is to raising ‘tech healthy’ humans. This task is by no means easy, which is why the night was titled ‘Raising Humans in a Bold and Biblical way’. 

The link to the video presentation of the night can be found here and the PowerPoint slides can be found here. I encourage all parents and caregivers to find time to view the presentation. At a minimum, watch it to understand the effects that social media and excessive screen time can have on the developing brain, which isn’t fully developed until their 23rd birthday.

I do believe that technology can be utilised to positively impact our world. As our children grow into adults, we as Christian parents must be BOLD and UNIFIED in our technology boundaries, but also strategic in the responsibility we entrust our children with in order to meet this mandate. 

Daniel Sih in his book ‘Raising Tech Healthy Humans’ states that “the role of a parent is to love, mentor and equip their children with the physical, emotional and psychological experiences they need to become adults, without trying to be their best friend. This is known as ‘tough love’ – the willingness to suffer and absorb setbacks to prepare our kids for a better future.” – (Sih, 2023)

Our journey toward a tech-balanced life for our children is an ongoing one and it involves intentional and sometimes bold decisions for us as parents. While there is a temptation to indulge our children in every new app or gadget, we must hold fast to the words of Proverbs 22:6 and be reassured that a shared Family Technology Agreement is an opportunity to model wisdom, boundaries, and loving guidance in this digital age.