Why Paying Attention to Technology is Crucial for Parents
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Did you know that the world is on the brink of the 4th Industrial Revolution?
In recent years The World Economic Forum has monitored and reported on the huge spike in worldwide filings of technological and biological patents. You can find more information from them here.
A spike that means new technologies are coming at us at a speed unlike any generation has seen before. Think of the old “drinking from a fire hose” scenario.
Are people ready? Are parents ready?
Much of the technology such as …
how we can reduce food waste
recycle plastic
or cure medical conditions
…will help humanity in amazing ways, however, as parents we must be educated about the impact and the speed at which the new technology is coming at us…
How do we make sure new technology is available to all people?
How will new technology change jobs?
How does education need to evolve in order to prepare the next generations?
How will new technologies protect the health and minds of children?
What are the privacy issues?
What are the ethical issues?
What will the security concerns be?
Who is in charge of implementing new technology? Corporations? Governments? Doctors? Scientists?
How will we keep up?
Let’s begin here…
“I expect AI (Artificial Intelligence) to change 100% of jobs within the next five to 10 years.” - IBM CEO, Ginni Rometty, states in this CNBC.com article that you can read more here.
What does that mean? According to this article it means…
the current workforce should be beefing up their technological, data analytical skills.
that parents need to be aware of how jobs will look different for their kids
advocating for the changes that need to happen in education
While education and future jobs are one important topic, the evolution of the parental carpool and teen driving will be new territory for parents to navigate in the near future as well.
Parents are beginning to use ride hailing apps and services to help get their kids where they need to go as you can read about in this Wall Street Journal article Uber Says No Kids - These Other Car Services Say Yes by Julie Jargon . Is this just an interim step to decisions parents will be making once driverless cars become a reality? What questions should we be asking? What scenarios should we prepare for?
At what age do I feel comfortable hailing a ride for my child?
At what age can my child take the driverless car alone? Middle school? High School?
What are the security measurers put in place to monitor and protect kids? GPS tracking? Cameras in these cars?
Lastly, how about the future of bio-technology? The Economist, Redesigning lIfe The promise and perils of synthetic biology . Unless you subscribe to The Economist, you will not get passed the second paragraph of this link, but here is a sentence from it…
“Now genes can be written from scratch and edited repeatedly, like the text in a word processor.” the article goes on to state that “what cells do is engineer-able as well”.
What?!? Scientists not only can create genes but engineer what a cell does?
That is amazing and concerning at the same time.
How can this be used to help humanity?
What are the ethical issues that need to be considered?
How does this affect the next generation?
How do we pass on values and ethics about bio-technology and it’s impacts to the next generation?
Who is in charge of deciding how this technology will be implemented?
Are we paying close enough attention to the implications and general urgency of new technologies?
Worrying about how much screen time your child(ren) get and the impact of video games may still be concerning, but with each passing day, there may be bigger and more profound technology issues to pursue for betterment of ourselves and for future generations.
It’s time as parents that we look closer at the impacts of technology and how we…
assess it
vote on it
mentor our kids on it
and parent it
How will you prepare for the technological impacts ahead?
Parenting is not about perfection, but it’s about the POWER in your PLAN!
Think it…Note it…Parent it!
I love sharing fun and useful products for parents! Some links I use are affiliate links including links for Amazon.com. I get paid a small commission, without any additional charge to you if you make purchases from the links. The commissions are used to fund this site in order to bring fun and helpful content to parents! Thank you!