The other day, my 14 year old nephew called me to ask if my daughter (a year older than him) could stop by his place for a brief bit on her way back from school. I hesitated as she was in the middle of her tests; sensing that, he immediately suggested that they would do a video skype call and complete their conversation! I was stumped for a moment at the way he thought “out of the box” and came up with a not so obvious (to me at least) solution ( a telephone call would not have been enough apparently as he wanted some tips that required a face to face interchange). But that is the 21st century millennial child for you.
Tech savvy and also much more open to experimenting with new ways of doing things than we are, for sure. Which is why, as parents, we ought to be very careful not stifle their thinking and interests based on our sometimes limiting world-views and experiences. Especially in an Indian context, the difference in exposure that a kid of a middle class parent has today is way, way different than what his/her parents would have had. So, ensuring that our children benefit from the wider exposure without, at the same time, allowing them to be carried away is perhaps one of the most important aspects of being a parent today. What do you think? Do you have any experiences to share along these lines?
Children these days are exposed so much more and some of these things occur naturally to them. Part of evolution I guess!