Technology taking over Parenting Essay -- essays research papers

Technology in the world today is becoming more advanced than ever. Parenting is being made easier and harder for some families because of the new technology. Some families do not have the money for the new additions to the technological world and other families have everything they have ever imagined. Amitai Etzioni is a professor at George Washington University. He has written nineteen books including the article â€Å"High-Tech Parenting.† It appeared in The American Enterprise in January of 1998. Etzioni writes on how a relationship between parent and child is becoming nothing more than a virtual relationship. Time usually spent together at home over a homemade dinner is now time spent on the cell phone. I feel that the technology world is coming up with many new features for the parents to make it easier for them. Parents are being given the advantage of blankets to put their children to sleep instead of them having to do it themselves. The parenting world is getting easier. Too busy parents count on beepers and cell phones to keep their children in reach. Instead of the kids counting on the random talks on the way to the movies, mall, or during a long walk on the beach, they now count on a ring or an upbeat tune to let them know its time to talk. This â€Å"beep-and-ring relation† is what is becoming of the families today. This information is very true and Etzioni makes a good point. These parents do not have time for their kids and they use electronics and other devices to talk to them. All families have different morals and the way they teach their kids to do certain things. Etzioni implies there is only one way to do that, cell phones. The readers are most likely to agree with this statement which then leads them to believe eve... ...er families will not punish their kids, no matter what the circumstance is. They were never taught to punish so their kids are that way too. This is when the kids delay turning off the TV or doing their homework until the last minute. In Conclusion, Etzioni is talking only to the business people of the world and not the everyday mom with four kids in the van. He does not take note that all families are different and that not all families have the same morals. He is one sided and exaggerates on the situation. He may not have grown up in a family where mom or dad was at home and his childhood is what he thinks everyone’s is like. Cell phones conversations are replacing the traditional one on one time with daughter and mother, son and father, etc. Etzioni’s article has very good points made in it. It also has points that could be changed to fit the average lifestyle.