LEFT TO THEIR OWN DEVICES:
Confident Parenting in a Digital World
(4th edition with brand-new content on AI)
By Katherine Hill
Kilfinanpress.com. 192 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 1 914 553 318
What effect is rapidly changing technology having on our children? Good or evil? Helpful or harmful? What do parents need to know? How should parents tailor their parenting in response?
Here is a well-researched book full of practical wisdom that addresses parents’ common concerns about all things digital, and more specifically: Content of online viewing; Contact with online “strangers”, and Conduct or online behaviour.
Katherine Hill, director of Care for the Family, experienced parent and grandparent, is professionally qualified to tackle this poignant subject. She draws on helpful research and writes in short digestible chapters which tackle specific topics such as: Screen Time; Gaming; Social Media; AI; Pornography; Sexting; Grooming; Addiction and more…
In each chapter, Hill seeks to provide a balanced response to embracing the opportunities and managing the risks, so that parents may equip their children to make good choices. This balance continues as each chapter concludes with a ‘What can Parents Do?’ section, incorporating the tension between opportunity and risk. Each chapter is a resource to revisit as required. An additional bonus are the scattered cartoons full of visual comedy. The serious responsibility of parenting goes hand-in-hand with a sense of humour! Worth buying just for these!
As with other Care for the Family resources, this book is not overtly Christian. The closing chapter quotes Proverbs 4:6 in its reference to the value of Wisdom which is the bedrock of the content along with Christian values, but do not expect more than this. This makes it widely accessible to those of other faiths who may be seeking parenting help without Christ. And the practical wisdom is of no less value to Christian parents who are trying to navigate parenting in the digital world. A commendable read.
