Tips for Managing Kids & Technology: A Q&A with Randi Zuckerberg

If your child is old enough to ask, chances are that some new tech toy, game or device arrived in your home this holiday season. In fact, according to a Macaroni Kid survey, more than 75% of moms with kids over two bought tech-based or tech enabled toys, games or devices this holiday season.

 

How should parents manage their kids interaction with all of the technology?

  

For advice, we turned to Randi Zuckerberg. The mom of two young boys, bestselling author, executive Producer of Dot on Sprout and former marketing exec at Facebook, tech and kids is something Randi thinks a lot about.

  

Macaroni Kid caught up with her early one morning.

  

Q: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us this morning. Tech and kids is on the mind of so many parents right now. So let’s start at the beginning -- do you think that we should be exposing our kids to technology at a young age?

 

A: Absolutely. Technology is in every part of our lives and kids should be fluent in technology before they go to school. But by technology, I don’t mean handing them an iPad and letting them sit on the couch for hours at a time. 

 

Q: So when you talk about exposing kids to technology, you aren’t necessarily talking about “screen time?”

   
A.  Exactly. Technology is everywhere and presents so many opportunities for kids to be creative. There are great games that teach the building blocks for coding and engineering and robotics and circuit building. There are incredible apps that let kids create video and that encourages storytelling. All of these are great to begin to introduce children to technology.

  

Q: Why do think many parents do try to limit their children’s exposure to technology?

  

A: I think many parents come to tech from a place of fear and guilt. 

  

Q: What do you think is the basis for the fear?

  

A:  Many parents have a limited idea of what tech and kids is all about and when you talk about tech and kids, they picture a child passively consuming media on an ipad. But there is so much more to it than that.

  

Q:  Do you have any advice for how parents can get past that fear?

  

A: Parents should ‘get their hands dirty.’ They need to play with their kids on the platforms and sites that they are on so that they can better understand what their kids are doing. 

  

Q: Oh, I agree. Years ago my son was deeply into Minecraft and when I finally sat down to understand what he was doing, I was blown away. And now he is taking advanced coding classes in High School and has really developed a passion for tech.

  

A: Minecraft is a great onboarding for coding for kids.

  

Q: I know you are an advocate for getting girls involved in tech and STEM. Your new show on Sprout TV, Dot, about a tech savvy eight-year-old-girl, is all about how technology can help kids explore the world around them. How did you come to Dot’s character?

  

A:  Boys and girls need to be talked to differently. We have to make a special effort to introduce our daughters to tech and to give them confidence because by the time they are 7, society is going to start giving them the message that tech is for boys.

  

Q: With all the new, fun games and devices that showed up this holiday season, how do we make sure that our kids’ relationship with their games is a balanced one? Your character Dot always “unplugs” but how do we help our kids find that kind of balance without becoming the screen police?

  

A: If your child is old enough, involve them in the discussion about how much screen time is appropriate. Set an “allowance” for the week and let them “spend” it how they wish -- not only will it give them a sense of control, it will also help to teach time management.

  

Q: Is there anything else parents can do?

  

A: One of the most important, and most difficult things to do, is for parents to be really honest with themselves about their own relationship with technology and what behaviors they are modeling for their kids. If you are constantly checking your texts, or have your phone at the dinner table, your kids are going to see that.

  

Q: On that note, I think I will close up my computer and take a walk. Thank you Randi, it’s been a pleasure. We wish you best of luck with Dot, she’s adorable and sends a great message to kids.