Episode 116: Protecting Your Family From Tech with Some Tech

Technology is great and terrible for our families. Millions upon millions of families have come before us with little to no technology. And they did pretty well for themselves. But here we are with too much technology and what are we supposed to do now? Todd Watson, CEO of Showit (the sponsor of our podcast!) and Chris' cousin, is on the podcast! This interview is packed with so much incredible info on how to keep our families safe in this technological world. Where to start We cannot expect to protect our kids from everything. That is a truth pill we have to swallow, right off the bat. But let's also remember that as adults, a lot of us need this info, whether we have kids or not. A lot of us grown ups are just as bad, if not worse, than kids with their devices!  In episode 31, we talked with Robert Watson about porn and sex. One thing that he told us was that your kids are not always looking for porn, but porn is looking for them! So teach them that there are just so many things they should not click on. And talk to them about staying safe online. Todd also mentioned that simply having a phone, and having texting capabilities is a form of social media. So even if your kids are not on social media (which we strongly recommend that they avoid it til they are at least 16, if not longer!), you still have to check up on them! If they can text, they are not getting a break from school life, or social life. When we were younger, when we left school for the day, that was it. We didn't bring the drama home with us. Make sure your kids are doing ok with who is texting them, and what people are texting them. Even deleted texts can haunt you forever - so be careful. And tell your kids to be careful.  Some tools Here are some of the apps and tools that Todd mentioned in this episode - qustodio.com - bark.com - Griffin Wifi router - set pins on Netflix Best parenting advice As always, our biggest pieces of advice for having a healthy home are to eat meals together and build your relationships! If eating dinner every night together is out of the question, then eat bowls of cereal together in the morning. Just make sure you have time to look each other in the eyeballs and say "how was your day? how is your heart?" Good Word of the Day Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. -Proverbs 22:6 Todd talked a lot about training our kids for character! SO GOOD! We can't control our kids and their actions. We can try to help them make better choices, and we can try to protect them from certain things. But if we train them to have good character, they will make a lot of those good choices for themselves! We mentioned that Rules Without Relationship Lead to Rebellion. Work on your relationship with your kids and your loved ones. Help them to understand the rules, and even have ownership in them! Hopefully this will mitigate some of the rebellion! Friends, none of us are going to get this right 100% of the time. Our kids will slip up. And so will we! So let's have grace, AND wisdom! Connect with Todd You can hear more about Todd's journey as a foster family in episode 6!  You can connect with him on social media, even though he is rarely on it. (So, good luck!) Connect with Us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us here! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!