Do not let technology replace values

“If a child can operate a tablet, phone or game, they can sweep, mop and do the dishes!”  Right or wrong?

I had to re-read that sentence a couple of times to digest the words. Then I remembered a conversation I had with a gentleman about his daughter. He was telling us how she had refused to greet him because she was angry at him and how she had even snapped at him. She is barely three years old.

We live in very interesting times, where many children cannot lay their bed and yet they can do coding on their telephone handsets.

The debate on whether it is necessary for children to be engaged in mundane house chores when the world is gravitating towards technology has been ongoing.

Is there any good in teaching children values such as respect, courtesy, hardwork and endurance or the times have changed so much that those virtues are now old-fashioned and perhaps irrelevant for the new age and times we live in today?

If there is anything that has changed our world, it is the Covid-19 pandemic. Nothing is normal anymore and probably it will never be. It happened so fast and unbelievably.

Who imagined there would be a time when schools across the country would be closed for two years?! There is an entire generation across the nation that has not been under direct guidance of teachers, tutors, care givers and influencers.

Whereas we may not yet feel or experience the magnitude of the impact brought by this two-year gap, it will inevitably be felt, sooner, later and in the long term future.

What does this mean for every parent and household? Ultimately, your child or children and how they turn out is your direct responsibility. We may blame the government, our neighbours, soil erosion, change in weather patterns, world systems, science or the lack of it... but the fact is that each parent has a role to play.

As we get our children to adapt to technology, let us remember the seemingly small things that run the entire core of being and belonging- values and virtues. At the core of every human being is the need for love, purposeful living, giving, growing and being appreciated.

May our children understand and appreciate that they are not little islands but they are part of wider community of other beings. May children learn to take care of themselves and others. To care for their environment and desist from self-absorption to seeking the good of others. How will we do this when we the parents are not living the talk?