Pressing the Reward Button for Positive Feedback: Part 2

Rice Krispie Treat Made into YAY as Positive Feedback

In a similarly named post, I mentioned the repetitive, intangible rewards children “earn” through playing video games.  Their desire for positive feedback and rewards becomes incited to the point of obsession. What if, instead, they became more interested in gaining positive feedback from following God and engaging with the people God made for that purpose?

It is not too early to nudge your child toward pleasing God through loving and serving people and not toward serving a virtual technological scorekeeper. After all, Ephesians 5:30 reminds us that “we are members of his body.”  We will want to train our children to act like it.

Offering Positive Feedback Examples of the Human Variety

Think about the amount of time in a week your child interacts with technology versus with Continue reading →

Cast Out Fear in Parenting

Fear Feels Cold, Like this Scene Outside a Minnesota Winter in February

Parenting without fear may not come easy to you. But remember 2 Timothy 1:7. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 

We may think of this verse when we contemplate witnessing about the power of Christ in our lives. We would do well to also remember it when we consider our parenting responsibilities. And managing our child’s technology habits. That’s a time to parent without fear.

Parenting without Fear

If, as parents, we fear technology’s impact on our homes, we are more likely to make a mistake in managing it.

Yet we would be wise to be strong and do the work. (1 Chron 28:10b) We can begin casting out fear by opening our eyes and ears to the unknown.

If you don’t know what Steam is, who streamer Ninja is, or why your son wants to use game content to practice coding or animating, a Continue reading →

Screen Time During COVID-19 and Summer

Happy Boy Running Through Sprinkler

Are you noticing your children spend more time online since COVID-19 and summer is upon us? A recent Wall Street Journal opinion (behind paywall), “Save Your Kids From Covid’s Digital Deluge,” addresses the topic of screen time. “Now is the time to break the trance of digital distraction” your children may be facing, encourages the writer Arlene Pellicane.

We frequently hear this reasonable, benign suggestion. Our children spend inordinate amounts of time in front of a screen for many reasons. We have many motivations for allowing it: Continue reading →