Digital Nation: How Internet & Modern Technology Has Changed Families (Essay Sample)

Marriages and Family in a Digital Nation
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Introduction
The new digital world has proven to be very addictive. Everyone ranging from school going children to adults finds themselves addicted to the internet. Parents and children spend most of their time on the computer and eventually, they don't have time for each other as a family. I can say that the digital world is full of wonders and at the same time its full of worries. The internet has offered much to the digital world, both the good things and the bad. Marriages and families are the sectors that have been affected a lot by the new technology. Young people have also fallen victims of the new technology. This paper will focus much on both the positive and the negative impacts of new technology on the families and marriages and how it should be embraced in our societies.
My experiences of addicted to the new technology
I never really understood the meaning of addiction until the day I got my first Samsung smartphone. Each and every member of the family owns a smartphone as per now and when people talk about addiction to the internet I can relate so well. It always reaches a point where no one is ready to have their meals on time because they are ‘busy’. My parents have complained a lot about the too much use of the phone but no one would hear that. They had to stop now because even taking the phones away from us was not the best remedy.
The internet actually makes you be so much engrossed in the phone that sometimes it becomes hard to sleep. Talk about the video games, the music and above all the social media platforms. Social media is actually the greatest fun part of using the internet. There is so much to share and there is also so much to learn. Following the friend's post and getting to meet new friends on the social media will just make someone not to stop going through the new posts. Personally, that's the reason why I spend much of my time on the internet. I find it so much entertaining that I wouldn't want to spend my leisure time doing anything else. Believe it or not, I less physically interact with my friends if not on the social media. The games on the internet never have an ending. New missions and new levels are unlocked every day and this always keeps me on toes in order to get to the highest level.
How Internet and Modern Technology Has changed Families
The modern technology and internet have had both positive and negative impacts on the families. On the positive impact, technology has enhanced communication between the family members. Cell phones have made communication effective through emails, text messages and even in making calls. This has really improved the connection between the family members. Studies have also shown that more than 70 percent couples use cell phones daily for communication. In addition, parents can communicate with their children. Majority of the studies have shown most people support that cell phone has improved communication in families (Greenwood et al, 2016).
Technology has had negative impacts as well. Few families spend time together as they mostly rely on technology for communication. Those who have the busiest days of work are the ones who mostly rely on technology as a means of staying in touch with their family members. It is a challenge for parents to monitor what their children are exposed to. Some of the information found on social media are not suitable for viewing and may erode the children's behavior. Therefore, technology feeds children with some negative behaviors that sometimes makes it hard for parents to control. In most case, couples have fought each other because of the internet. Similarly, parents have disagreed with their children because of spending too much time on the internet. Balancing between children and work have become so challenging for parents especially now that they are forced to use technology to stay in contact with their children. (Greenwood et al, 2016).
Educating children in this digital world
Parents should aim to educate their children on the risks associated with spending too much time on the internet. Not teaching children to be responsible when using the media technologies will result in unacceptable behaviors among the children. Children pick a lot from the media and thus it is important to teach children on the digital intelligence. This involves the emotional, cognitive and social abilities of a person to go through challenges and adapt to the digital life. They should be taught on the digital use to enable them to create and manage their online identifications. It will also help children to have awareness of the individual management of both short term and long term effects on the effectiveness of the individual's online appearance (Cowan, 2018).
Parents should also ensure the digital safety of their children. This is the ability to overcome the risks and challenges of using the internet. This includes the grooming, radicalization and the cyberbullying usually common on the internet. Digital security is also a matter of concern for parents. They should be able to detect the internet threats such as scans and hacking. They should educate their children on these internet security issues and the best practices to take in case of any threat. Alternatively, parents can install suitable security tools for the protection of the data.
Children should also be taught on the digital communication and the emotional intelligence. In addition to this, they should learn the digital literacy and the digital rights that they need to enjoy. They should be taught on the information that they are allowed to share on the internet and how they interact with people when using ...