I saw a picture the other day that compared the family of the past, to the family of the present. The family was sitting at the table at dinner time. The first picture showed five people talking and laughing ,and the present picture showed people sitting at the table, each of them had their heads in their phone, tablet, or computer, and none of them are talking to each other, smiling or laughing, bottom line, no interaction.

I love technology, but I am clear that it comes with challenges that MUST be addressed.  Technology is everywhere and our children are being exposed to it from the time they are in diapers, but is that good and how do we mange it?

Additionally, do we need to consider what technology and the use of it is doing to our interpersonal skills, relationships, and our expectations.  When we look at technology we have to ask two questions, what is it giving us, but also what is it taking away, or what are we losing?

Technology is here to stay, but what do we need to do to keep it in proper perspective?

This book, Growing Up Social by Gary Chapman and Arlene Pellicane tackles these question and many more like them.  They also introduce information that we need to think about like how is technology hurting our children, our relationships, our interpersonal skills, how is it making communication more difficult or even non-existent and are we creating limits to keep the balance, or have some kind of control over how it is being used, or are we leaving everything to chance?

For instance, how much is too much and how early is too early for kids to be exposed to technology?

When it comes to content, who is the gatekeeper on what is shown and how much is too much for your child?

Are you watching to see what your child is taking part in whether it is a game, TV, videos, or applications to see if the content is appropriate for them?  Are you watching or are you leaving it to the standards to others, and trusting that everything is going to be okay?

Are we missing important things that are happening in the present, because we are watching videos, playing games, checking in on social media, but otherwise not really present with the people right in front of us?

Electronics and games are filled with rewards and incentives that don’t exist in real life.  When you are used to winning all the time, what do you learn when you lose?  Children who are used to getting rewards for everything, have problems dealing failure and will often quite or give-up instead of working harder or asking how they can learn from their mistakes.

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This book does a great job of presenting issues that I believe many people don’t have the time to consider or wonder if based on the popularity of technology they don’t express.  The authors bring in everything from safety and security to understanding how technology changes the way our kids think and desensitize them to real and pressing challenges and issues right in front of them.

It also takes a look at the cost of technology and what should be weighed as we look use technology, while still creating healthy boundaries that help families develop children who can excel both online and offline.

This book is a must read for parents, administrators, teachers, and leaders because it starts a conversation you need to continue the authors make you think about the dangers of technology and how to best use it to help and not hinder the development or our young people and our world.

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Disclosure:  I was given this book to review by Propeller Consulting, LLC for my honest review.  They also sponsor and create the guidelines for the giveaway of one of the books.  There is only one giveaway per address and the winner must meet the criteria set out by the company in order to be presented with your prize.  The opinions expressed above are mine.