Technology and Family – How Technology Changes our Family Meals Together

Technology and family are getting along with each other.  Often, technology gives comfort, entertainment and important information for the whole family.  But how about the not-so-good consequences? Is technology always good to use? Is it building up the members or putting them at risk? What's the effects of technology on family time?

What has become very impressive from the current years is the way technology understands and measures one’s brain.  There’s a quick pace of modernization leading technology in all areas of our lives. With all probability, the current digital age has been modifying our lifestyle—how we reason out and act together.

iPods, PDAs, Tablets, Laptops, mobile phones—these are among the gadgets that punish our wallets introduced by technology to a family.  Obviously, they are changing our family’s condition and are putting unhealthy effects in our relationship and interactions. Eating meal together is a traditional practice but it has now been a forgotten routine.  Technology has made it happen to families.  

Research survey shows that regular family meals creates positive influence on teens. Eating together is linked with developed values, intimacy, and knowing family members better.  Adolescents who don’t eat with parents have the tendency to develop behavioral problems.  These may include taking drugs, being aggressive, getting academic problems, suicidal attempts, or sexual activity.

Today, advanced technology has made the family dinner time an out-dated, least important household practice.  Gone are the days of longer conversations with laughter and jokes.   

We may recall discussing about things during dinner time: homework, sports, job, and ourselves.  Members of the family were feeling comfortable, keeping up each others' lives while maintaining eye-eye contact.

Unfortunately, dinnertime now becomes nothing but a self-quick-time eating routine.  With busy net surfing, uploading, emailing, chatting, television viewing, there's no more time left for each member.   How does technology affect family communication? Technology makes a family undergo certain detachment.

Mostly, if there’s time to eat together, everyone would eat fast and leave others in the table. Everyone goes back immediately to his PC, mobile phone, or internet games.

Family dinners should be an opportunity to give relationship setting for the teens and kids.  This is the time to build up conversations, social skills, good manners, and intimacy among themselves.

Even if there’s time to eat dinner together, there are conflicts appearing and pressures begin to take place.  Rather than making it a time to bond, technology makes it a family time of conflicts and quarrels. 

Have you experienced yourself shouting at your son, “Stop that video games in your room and let’s talk together.”  To a certain degree, genuine interactions with real family members are compromised.  Sad to admit but technology has made family fragmented this far. 

Admittedly, our technology has greatly created amazing things: converse with anyone around the globe, give huge information, online jobs, advanced media, and a lot more.  However, the risky impact comes when technology makes a family poisoned.  Technology, at certain level, has all the opportunities to pollute the human brains and spirits, especially children’s.    

So how to raise children with modern technology?  As parents, you should think that the ones at risk in terms of technology are your children and whole family. Ponder about how this life is changing yours and others.  Ask yourself, “How technology and internet affect our family? Is it making my family intact or is it fracturing our happy relationship?  Employ some precautionary measures for your loved ones.  Prioritize family activities in building up relationship which the internet can't give.

------------------------------------

If this is your first time to visit us, then you can subscribe to our FREE SUBSCRIPTION.

You can also leave your thoughts by posting your comment on the box below.  

You can also share this to your friends via social networking sites provided below.   

It’s all my pleasure to have you visited this blog!!

Technology and Family – How Technology Changes our Family Meals Together is  a post on  Modern Parenting Tips: Styles & Approach to Train & Discipline Children

Related topics to read on internet risks:

• Risks in Using Internet and Technology – Watch What Your Kids are Doing Online 
• Technology -- 10 Ways to Protect Your Family’s Privacy on Social Networking Websites 
• Can Social Networking Websites Harm your Children's Brains?
• Technology and Internet Games: The Dark Side of Electronic Games on Children
• Is Technology and Internet Giving Risks or Help to Parents & Children?
• How Technology and Internet Separate Parents from Children?
• Technology: The Dark Side of Internet to the Children