My approach is “the less the better”, but one of the hardest challenges I’ve found after our move to Singapore was that everyone is on a device in this part of the world. No one warned me about that. My then 12-year-old cheekily told me, “Hey mom, remember that whole ‘when you are in Rome you must do as the Romans’ thing you like to tell us? If you want us to be more like the kids here, you need to let us be on devices.” I was not amused.
I’m still trying to find a balance, but it’s incredibly hard. With my teenager, I realised that part of the new norm of social life here is gaming online with friends. When I was growing up, hanging with my friends meant going to the park or a mall. In today’s teen world, it means getting on your computer and communicating while gaming. I do try and have a rule that electronic time should not be more than an hour during the week, and homework has to be completed before my 13-year-old goes online.
With the nine-year-old, her Kindle is only for reading and we do give her an old phone during the weekends so she can send emails to her friends and family in the US, but she has to return it to us and we do monitor the usage. Shimaali
This story is from the 2019-2020 edition of Expat Living Kids' Guide.
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This story is from the 2019-2020 edition of Expat Living Kids' Guide.
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