Now, being immersed in the digital age here at PJA and at home, I have to be conscious of how my six-year-old and three-year-old consume digital and how it affects their future growth.

After reading last week’s New York Time’s article, “If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably Online,” I’d be remiss if I didn’t filter how long my children interact with digital media, now and in the future. The article doesn’t present anything earth shattering, but as a parent it makes me want to ensure the future of our children so that they don’t become “Google Stoopid” – turning to get answers from Google, social networks or friends for every possible question. Children certainly need to be digitally savvy, but there’s also a need for the traditional avenue of entertainment like reading the common book, or playing outside and using their imagination.

The article I mention in the New York Times shared a study from Kaiser Family Foundation who found that children “ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted. And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cell phones.”

The information alone around how many hours children engage with texting, Facebook, etc. is astounding, and the truth is, it could have a noticeable impact on their future.