Devices

Dear Parents,
I’d like to address the topic of students and devices, one of many topics that I hope to address in writing to you throughout the school year.  If you are reading this and your children are too young to carry devices with them, please read on. It’s only a matter of time until you encounter the issues addressed below.
As students mature, parents often give them electronic devices that are connected to the marvels of the Internet.  With this comes privileges and responsibilities that are very adult-like.  Much like beginning to drive a car, these students now hold in their hands the power to do wonderful things or to create serious problems.
With privileges come responsibility. New users see the privileges but don’t fully comprehend the problems or responsibilities. How do you as a parent help them learn?
Here are some practical suggestions that I hope will help:

• Ensure your child knows the device comes from you and you are in control.  Even if they’ve earned the money themselves, they could not have done so without you.  You are the parent whom God has charged with the responsibility for raising that child.
• Talk with your child about how the device will benefit and potentially harm others.  Ask how much they know already.  Don’t lecture, ask.  Usually they know, but don’t think about it.  Give them a chance to verbalize.
• Know the password(s) for your child’s device(s), and check on them regularly.  Kids will handle devices very differently when they know someone else is looking.  That’s not surprising, since it applies to adults too.  Accountability is good.
• Know your child’s friends and their parents.  That’s easy at Epiphany, but they may also have online friends.  This is also a good reason to check on the use frequently.
• Resist the urge to feel as if you are violating their privacy.  It’s natural to feel this way, but often this used as an excuse to abdicate parental responsibility.

As a school, we are happy to help, but we have practical imitations. We don’t log into children’s devices, which is the most important way to monitor it.  That’s a parent’s role.  When teachers address social media, they are addressing an entire class. There are things they can and cannot say in that setting. As a parent, you can address these issues more effectively, because you are speaking to just one child. You can address their individual questions and concerns with your own set of family values.
Blessings on your parenting, which is undoubtedly the most important task before you!
Tim Miesner
Principal