Parenting Guru: To Be Online or Not to Be Online...That's No Longer the Question

Boston Irish

Our family's wireless service has been down for 48 hours. I don't know whether I'm more anxious or relieved. Nope, definitely more anxious. Not because I can't access Facebook, mind you. My concerns stem from how disconnected from school my kids and I are if we're offline. I guess I hadn't realized how much our school interactions are now determined by keyboard instead of blackboard. Sure, we can still call the teachers or other students (we have!). But our unplanned, unplugged experience has reinforced how tech-heavy our teacher relationships have become. This shift may be convenient and efficient to some, but I find it both impersonal and unsatisfying.

Here are a few examples of how things are different, just since my kids started school 10 years ago:

1.) All communications from school are emailed: from progress reports to report cards to homework assignments. No more 'losing things' in the backpack, I suppose.

2.) Late-breaking schedule changes are communicated via emails. This is a boon if you check messages often. But if tennis is postponed and you haven't checked your inbox, you'll find yourself alone at the courts!

3.) School lunches are prepaid online. Only when I topped off my son's account did I learn that his daily lunch for the past 3 months(!) consisted of Gatorade, chips and a cookie. Maybe that explains the sinking grades....

4.) Online scheduling of events are all the rage. But confusion arises that probably wouldn't if humans were in charge. For instance, one school event went awry when it was scheduled in military time!

5.) Parent-teacher conferences are booked online. As you jostle for open 7-minute time slots, it can sometimes feel more like Ticketmaster than school.

So while I'm not a Luddite, I do long for more voice interactions and fewer virtual ones, especially when it relates to my kids and school. Am I alone in this? Or just hopelessly sentimental? What do you think?

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Boston Irish is actually Maureen O'Brien, a Shine Parenting Guru, mom of twins, and the founder of www.destinationparenting.com. Her musings can also be found on Galtime.com. She is passionate about all things parenting.