It has been a challenging time for me over the past week as the Nanma of two 'iPad, iPhone fanatical' grandsons, aged 12 and 8.
Yes, I agreed to do the grandmotherly thing and come down from my peaceful home in Coffs Harbour to look after my grandsons while my daughter and her husband took a 'kid free holiday' in Singapore.
Prior to leaving on their holiday I was warned by my daughter that the boys could be challenging, "no problems" was my response. Ha!
Thinking out aloud, they couldn't be that challenging after all I have faced many very difficult challenges with raising two daughters myself and work related business challenges and survived.
Oh! How wrong was I, these two grandsons saw my visit as a time to do pretty much what ever they wanted, especially with the use of 'screen time' (iPad, iPhone usage) something that I believe is ruling their lives as the 21st century digital students.
There was absolutely no talking or games with Nanma? Gone, just spending they’re time between digital devises and avoiding their chores. This made me take on a nagging role to achieve the feeding and walking of the dog, get dressed, have a shower, clean teeth, go to bed etc
Reflecting on the week of looking after my grandsons, I wondered about how this type of digital devised young students is affecting their one to one personal communication.
in Valentine, New South Wales, Australia
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