Children online – what’s your opinion?

The Washington Post recently published an article called “Let’s tell kids what they can do online, instead of what they can’t do”. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/02/13/lets-tell-kids-what-they-can-do-online-instead-what-they-cant-do/

It is an interesting read. Generally, when I hear a conversation about children and internet access or social media it tends to be all or nothing. I hear people talk with disgust about parents who use smart phones and tablets as babysitters. I hear parents talk about not allowing their children to have access to the internet until they are a certain age. Neither approach seems to offer any helpful suggestions and often these conversations include reference to a piece of research without much context to support their argument. Let’s be real! Children are going to have access to the internet at some point in their lives and they need to learn how to survive online experiences

This article seems to offer an alternative approach that gives parents concrete suggestions for how to guide their children in this age of technology. For example, “Instead of just telling kids not to bully other kids online, talk about ways to be kind”. Seems sensible to me!

What is your take on this approach?