The start of a new school year used to just mean dealing with the end-of-summer blues, figuring out which classes to take and which books to buy, and making sure you had a first-day-of-school outfit. For today\u2019s kids, however, there\u2019s another real challenge: keeping pace with all the other kids your age, from brand-name clothing to expensive gadgets.<\/p>\n
Consider this: about one quarter of children aged 12 to 15 in the United Kingdom have their own tablet while, on this side of the pond, there\u2019s been a five-fold increase in tablet ownership among kids. Couple those statistics with other trends, such as the percentage of children and teenagers who have mobile phones (78 percent) and toddlers who have used mobile devices (38 percent), and it\u2019s evident that children growing up today want and have more technological gadgets than ever before \u2013 and that comes with a hefty price tag for their parents.<\/p>\n
The struggle to keep up \u2013 to give your child what \u201cevery other\u201d child seems to have, for fear of making them feel left out \u2013 can be daunting for parents. After all, buying your child a $100 mobile phone may not seem like much, until you factor in the cost of the monthly plan. The same goes for gaming systems like PS3 and Xbox, for which a couple hundred dollars now may not break the bank but, before you know it, the next version will come out and you\u2019ll be shelling out more cash.<\/p>\n
So, how can parents keep up with the demand, provide their children with some fancy gadgets, without breaking the bank and without spoiling their children?<\/p>\n
In the back-to-school rush, you may be focused on all the new things your child will learn at school this year, but it\u2019s a great time to think about the lessons you can teach your child at home, with the first one being the value of a dollar (or two). If your child sees you spend hundreds on new smartphones and tablets every two years, they get the message that it\u2019s a normal expense and nothing out of the ordinary, like your yearly taxes or other such payments, when these devices are luxuries, not essentials (although that could be debated).<\/p>\n
Instead, you want to show your child that you\u2019re happy to provide them with some of the latest trends but not all of them, all the time. Consider saving the bigger-ticket items for special occasions or milestones you want to celebrate. As well, involve your child in the discussion: how much is too much for a kid\u2019s first phone? How long do they think it takes for you to work to earn the price of that phone?<\/p>\n
According to Kevin Sylvester, co-author of Follow Your Money: Who Gets It? Who Spends It? Where Does It Go?<\/em>, parents can and should explain the value of money to children with practical examples. For example, say your son wants the new iPhone. You buy it, but explain that the purchase means no movie tickets or outings for him for the next six months, until he\u2019s helped pay for it. One of the reasons this can be difficult for kids to understand today is because of how little they actually see real, physical money.<\/p>\n \u201cMoney has moved away from the physical to the abstract. [Before] kids were forced to deal with the reality of how much something cost (they had to count coins, for example) when we needed actual money to buy things,\u201d he writes. \u201cBut with credit cards, debit cards and automatic e-transactions, that tangible relationship with money is almost gone. So, [kids] need to know the underlying ideas about \u2018value,\u2019 \u2018cost\u2019 and so on to understand what they are spending.\u201d<\/p>\n To do this, he encourages parents to give kids ownership over how much they\u2019re spending and what they\u2019re buying, as well as discussing why saving is important \u2013 even if it means waiting until the iPhone 15 comes out.<\/p>\n Dr. Jim Taylor, author of Raising Generation Tech<\/em>, reminds readers that kids pick up what they see their parents doing. The average child spends more than seven hours in front of a screen per day. If you think that\u2019s much too high, then it\u2019s time for a back-to-school quiz: are you any better? If you\u2019re spending hours on your phone, computer or tablet \u2013 whether it\u2019s watching TV, working or playing games \u2013 your child learns it\u2019s OK to spend your day in front of a screen. However, childhood should be a time to explore, imagine and wonder, which gets lost if a child has a computer doing it for them.<\/p>\n \u201cHow did your children develop their relationship with technology? In all likelihood, from your relationship with technology. You influence your children\u2019s exposure to technology in two ways,\u201d says Taylor in a blog post about creating a healthy relationship with technology. \u201cFirst, whether consciously or otherwise, you determine the technology to which your children are exposed and the frequency of its use. You buy it for them, give them permission to use it, and provide them with the time and space for its use.<\/p>\n \u201cSecond, and perhaps more importantly, you model the presence and use of technology in your own life. In doing so, you\u2019re constantly sending your children messages about the role that it should play in their lives. Think about how often you, for example, watch television, play video games, surf the internet or check your email, and you\u2019ll probably see the kind of relationship that your children have or will develop with technology.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s too early to tell what impact technology will ultimately have on children who don\u2019t know life without it, but Taylor\u2019s points remain true nonetheless: too often we think of technology as an end itself, a way to pass time, a chance to get the kids to quiet down while we finish our day\u2019s work, but it developed as a means to an end \u2013 a way to enhance the quality of life and do more with less.<\/p>\n By reminding your kids and yourself of these origins, you can instil in them the value that technology can bring \u2013 efficiency, independence, ingenuity and, perhaps, a better quality of life \u2013 while showing that they don\u2019t have to have everything at once. And that there are other ways to work and play.<\/p>\nQuiz time: self-evaluation<\/strong><\/h4>\n