The challenge of educating adolescents in digital without falling into hatred of technology

The parents of adolescents and children born in generations Z and alpha have had to educate them in complex times.

Social networks, devices connected to the Internet and video games, among other things, have presented them with a not inconsiderable challenge that also includes educating for

Digital competence, however, is not acquired by adolescents for the mere fact of being digital natives.

This term, that of digital natives, which was coined by the education expert Marc Prensky (New York, 1946), can be misleading.

Not everything is known about the digital life of being born with a mobile phone under their arms, nor are digital immigrants —people between the ages of 35 and 55, who were born before the nineties and have been part of the evolutionary progress of technology— they are totally useless in that aspect.

I believe that no one should hold on to these two ideas to evade the responsibility of also approaching education from a digital perspective.

It is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that a technological innovation creates a schism between generations.

The professor of Philosophy and doctor of Psychology Jordan Shapiro (Philadelphia, 1977) tells in his book

(

for its translation into Spanish) that Socrates (Athens, 470 BC) rejected the introduction of writing.

The philosopher is also credited with that lapidary quote that says: “Today's youth loves luxury.

She is badly educated, despises authority, does not respect her elders, contradicts her parents and tyrannizes her teachers.

A generational leap and a technological leap together are an almost explosive cocktail, in the year 400 BC and in the year 2023.

More information

Eight keys to educate our children responsibly in the use of technology

Most parents try to apply common sense when educating, but what is normal for some is reason for punishment for others.

Where is the balance between negligence and authoritarianism?

If attention is paid to the theory of the four parental styles (democratic, authoritarian, indulgent and negligent), surely many seek to be exemplary democratic parents.

But to be a good father or mother in these times, the bar is very high, more than it was for previous generations, and all because of technology and social networks.

There is no shortage of experts, psychologists and even great Silicon Valley gurus who recommend keeping children away from screens and parents who have been able to educate their children without technology.

To achieve something like this is certainly worthy of amazement.

You have to be very convinced and have a lot of security, as well as great parental qualities in many other aspects.

But is that the model to follow?

What favor is done to children and adolescents by denying them to have an

presence ?

Personally, I believe that the right thing to do is to educate responsibly in digital without falling into neo-Luddism or technophobia.

I am sure that one can be happy without screens, Socrates was also happy without books, but one must not forget that if it had not been thanks to Plato (Athens, 427 BC), who left his teacher's thought in writing, today would not be almost nothing would be known of the great Greek philosopher.

Technology benefits society as a whole.

And if minors are prohibited from having an

life , how much will parents who are not able to understand it lose?

Can you educate democratically and fully without knowing anything about social networks, video games,

or

?

In the same way that parents are usually interested in meeting their children's friends, regardless of whether they meet them in class or in an

, and to know if they are a good influence or not, they should be interested in knowing what they see and hear, because what minors are perceiving in the digital world may not be understood correctly.

They need someone to accompany them, explain to them and teach them to think critically.

And for this you don't need to know much about technology, just listen and reason with them.

Leaving them alone would be remiss.

Technology exposes children to situations from which they also learn.

And not only about digital skills, knowledge or hard skills such as knowing how to use a word processor, a spreadsheet or

of graphic design, which will be useful in their academic life and in their working life, but also soft skills -empathy, teamwork, etc.-.

Social networks, for example, are a perfect environment to put emotional regulation into practice.

In fact, I believe that one should no longer talk about digital education without involving emotional and media education.

Just as you need a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education, you need a DEM (Digital, Emotional, and Media) education, an education that prepares you to have technical competencies in the use and management of applications and devices,

and also

to deal emotionally with digital life and to learn to discern quality news and content from hoaxes and fake news.

It is clear that the dangers of inappropriate use of mobile phones and consoles, social networks and video games are the order of the day, with cyberbullying at the top of the main concerns of parents, and the lack of attention in the classroom due to a lack of hours of sleep and addiction to video games and social networks, among those of teachers.

But denying digital activity to a teenager seems to me not to be the solution.

Realistically, they are more likely to hide that they have an

life than actually stay out of digital.

So education, whether we like it or not, also includes accompanying and being a model in the use of technology.

Being digital immigrants does not exclude anyone from it.

Eva Bailén

is a mother, Telecommunications engineer and secondary school teacher.

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