Women Education and Responsible Parenting in a Digital Era

Why the need for Women education in this digital era ? Why women and not men? We must remember  that women are natural nurtures,  teachers ,and caregivers . Women are the closest to children.

Parenting is a doing word. Parenting is work, a tough one too. Parenting can be really tasking in this digital era if not well managed. Raising a child has become challenging to many parents.

An unforeseen revolution the world was not ready for, a paradigm shift. A shift from the traditional way of parenting to a digital one.

We need to educate women to educate children. There is serious need for maternal intervention, mothers are to protect  their children from the negative side of technology and they can only teach what they know.

The information out there is massive, both positive and negative. This is an era that dawned on us so fast and is growing so rapidly through widespread use of devices.

Parents now find it difficult to meet up, catch up, or match up with the demands attached to it.

How do we navigate this terrain? We need to be proactive in order to parent responsibly.

Parents are responsible for tackling children's online Safety. Parenting has become so tasking, because no one is trained in coping with this great surge.

What do we do ?

1. We need to equip ourselves with knowledge

2. Women need to adopt proactive approaches and create a healthy and balanced digital environment for our children 

3. There must not be a disconnection in the family. You have to be your child ‘s friend

4. You have to maintain familial contact

5. Avoid giving unlimited freedom to exploration of the world of technology by children, this is unhealthy. There must be supervision and guidelines, or else it leads to addiction and of course brain damage

6. When women as parents change the way they use technology, it helps the children change their attitude too.

7. Women can also withdraw use of some devices where necessary in order to check the negative effects of usage on children's social, cognitive, psychological, emotional development

8. Women are to be educated to guide children to avoid loss of basic life skills. Women must recognize the fact that we cannot successfully raise a digital oriented child in the old traditional way, considering new media, blogs, social media and online magazines and newspapers. The only world they know is the digital world. Children sleep and wake up in the internet. It is used for self destruction and self enhancing. The large exposure to internet  poses great challenges to parent and child relationships. It has taken over what parents should teach

9. Mothers must be exposed to digital parenting styles. Women are charged to regulate internet use by their children. A good digital parent knows how to use the privacy  and parental codes settings to set restrictions on phones

10. Women are advised to engage children in activities that add relaxation, joy and fulfillment to their lives, for example hobbies, exercises or spending time with family and friends

11. Women should endeavour to do selfcare and self love, and learn not to compare their children with other children or their co siblings. Individual differences must be respected and children must be loved and accepted unconditionally. Women have to be educated to value mental health and wellbeing in order to provide good supports for their children

12. Women should model healthy technology  habits to their children, limiting own screen time and setting boundaries around device usage, realizing now that mobile phones are increasingly playing significant roles in the lives of children, caution must be applied

13. Women are to monitor the contents of platforms their children visit. Children are to be encouraged to play outside with real people often. Online connections encourage cyberbullying and put children in danger. Taking a walk with your child works too, bonding with them builds trust and confidence

14. A structural approach must be used in rewarding good job and you teach by example

15. Women are to be educated in using technology to develop their skills and stream that to the children too and learn to co create with and not dictate to them. Decide together on internet usage

16. Women, let your children see you as collaborator and not commander and controlling, co create with them in all activities especially internet concerned

In conclusion, though Parenting can be difficult and stressful and made more challenging by more connected computers and phones. I will add that women are to embrace their inner strength and remain responsible. ‘YES! WE CAN!’

Thank you all.

Modupe Adelanwa

Assistant National Secretary

25/March 2024