“Be the Parent, Please is one of the most thought-provoking and jarring books I’ve read in a long time. When I finished the book, I literally thought to myself, ‘I wish I’d read this ten years ago!’ Engagingly written and filled with
fascinat-ing studies, this important book should be a conversation changer.” —Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package
Description from the publisher:
Toddlers on tablets. Pre-teens on Tumblr. Thanks to a variety of factors—from tech companies hungry for new audiences, to school administrations bent on making education digital, to a culture that promotes everyone
as the star of their own reality shows—technology is irrevocably a part of childhood, and parents are struggling to keep up. What should be allowed? What should be denied? And, given the ubiquity of technology and its inherent usefulness, what do sensible boundaries
even look like?
A noted columnist and mother of three, Naomi Schaefer Riley fully understands the seductive nature of screens. For example, an afternoon of finger painting equals enormous cleanup of both house and hands. But
an afternoon of iPad games? Just a swipe and a charger. Or what about car rides around town? Always having toys and books on hand isn’t a given, but your game-loaded smart phone is.
Riley draws us into her story and then walks us through the research on technology’s encroachment into each stage of childhood. She then offers "tough mommy tips": realistic, practical, applicable advice for
parents who recognize that unlimited technology access is a problem, but who don’t know where to start in taking back control. These tips cover everything from placating an antsy toddler at your local favorite restaurant to best practices for keeping your teens
safe from unsavory sites.
Any parent knows the effects of screens on their distracted, cranky, sedentary, and incessantly anxious-about-what-might-be-going-on-without-them kids. Naomi Schaefer Riley brings her experience, research, and
no-nonsense candor to help parents prevent the children from falling under the destructive spell of technology.
About the Author:
Naomi Schaefer Riley is the author of Be
the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat (Templeton Press, 2018). She is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former Wall Street Journal editor and writer whose work focuses
on higher education, religion, philanthropy and culture. Her book, ’Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage is Transforming America (Oxford, 2013), was named an editor’s pick by the New York Times Book Review. For more information, please
visit http://www.naomiriley.com/ and
follow the author on Facebook and Twitter.
My Review:
Wow, this is a book that is so relevant to today! Technology is everywhere and children start utilizing it and being consumers of it starting out so young. The purpose of this book is not to say that technology is a bad thing, but it needs to be used wisely and the impact on children needs to be thought about and considered. The author has done extensive research on this topic which is evident throughout this book and it is presented in an easy to read, easy to understand, non-threatening style. Personally, my favorite thing about the book is the "tips for cutting back" which are interspersed throughout the book. These little boxes are filled with doable tips and great thoughts and ideas. One of my favorites is to indulge the children a bit to help ease the feelings of missing out on screen time by taking them to a bookstore to pick out a book or a board game or to the park to spend time playing together and creating. This book is an excellent read that is thought-provoking and filled with information to help with lessening the use of technology and its' pull not only on children but on the entire family.
*Thanks to the FSB Associates for the complimentary copy of this book.*
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