Sandra was talking with one of our kid's teachers the other day and the teacher mentioned a noticeable increase in kids who act up in class or misread the actions of other kids and become unnecessarily offended. When the teacher talks to the the kids' parents, the parents feel like they've been thrown a curve ball.
"But they're so good at home, they sit quietly and play on their (phone/tablet/computer)…"
And therein lies the issue--they aren't being "good" they're being "preoccupied" and when you take that stimulus away in settings like school, dinner parties, church, any other social function, they simply don't know how to act and they don't know how to interact with others in person.
I see this in my own kids, and fear that as their "screen time" increases so will the deterioration of their social skills. We tried to follow the doctor recommended 1 hour of screens per day, but I honestly don't think that's realistic anymore. For good or for bad, kids are increasingly required to be in front of their computers/tablets/phones. We can debate that reality somewhere else, this blog isn't about that.
What this blog is about is our family's efforts to balance that with some actual real life skills. Common courtesy, politeness, manners. School doesn't teach them, and less and less parents seem to be either, for a variety of reasons. You may or may not agree with everything I'm passing on to my kids, but then again, maybe you'll find something useful here. Practicing good social skills now can give kids a great boost in life.
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