Fully agreed on that. There is also a balance of allowing them to explore an idea space, while keeping them clear of risks and negative problems.
E.g. my minion is currently obsessed with Minecraft. They are actually getting quite good at the design part too. They want to play online though. I’m not happy with that, so I am setting up a private server. It will be whitelist access only. They will be able to play online and talk with their friends through Minecraft, but not random players online. When they are older, I’ll allow it, but only when I am in the (physical) room, keeping an eye on things.
If you try and shoehorn your kids into only what you think is acceptable, then you will have problems. If you have shown you will help them explore their own interests, they will come to you with them. If you regularly shut them down, they will go behind your back, where you have no control.
As you say, it’s all about balance. You don’t want to isolate your kid from all of their friends but you also don’t want them to do every stupid TikTok trend because all the other kids do it.
Fully agreed on that. There is also a balance of allowing them to explore an idea space, while keeping them clear of risks and negative problems.
E.g. my minion is currently obsessed with Minecraft. They are actually getting quite good at the design part too. They want to play online though. I’m not happy with that, so I am setting up a private server. It will be whitelist access only. They will be able to play online and talk with their friends through Minecraft, but not random players online. When they are older, I’ll allow it, but only when I am in the (physical) room, keeping an eye on things.
If you try and shoehorn your kids into only what you think is acceptable, then you will have problems. If you have shown you will help them explore their own interests, they will come to you with them. If you regularly shut them down, they will go behind your back, where you have no control.
And this is a great way to do it. Kudos.
As you say, it’s all about balance. You don’t want to isolate your kid from all of their friends but you also don’t want them to do every stupid TikTok trend because all the other kids do it.