Is The Internet Stopping Kids From Believing In Magic?

How do we protect the magic and ensure that our kids believe in the things we grew up with and loved before the internet ruins it?

Have you ever thought about the internet and how everything your child needs to know is there at the touch of a button?
It is scary but not only because of the normal safety reasons, more because kids are becoming aware of everything earlier. They are, therefore, not having an opportunity to believe in magical things for long enough.
How do we protect the magic and ensure that our kids believe in the things we grew up with and loved before the internet ruins it?
The truth is, we can’t stop the internet, but we can stop our kids accessing information on it and ensure they are not left alone online to do as they please.
It is sad to consider how easily the information can be found and how children could be as young as five-years-old with very little belief systems. How would this alter our children’s childhoods if they didn’t believe in everything for a time?
It would mean less of the magical inspirations that we loved as parents, grandparents and as children. Childhood and growing up is a time when you believe anything is possible, including flying through space on a majestic creature, jumping into rabbit holes and one man having the ability to visit every child in one single night.
That sort of magical thinking is a wonderful thing but to see it being cut to shreds is terrifying as we endeavour to ensure our kids grow up with these belief systems.
More parents are reporting that their children stop believing at age seven! Some get longer and others find their kids could become non-believers at aged six. This alone shows the enormity of the internet and how children are too well up on the goings on around them.
But why are we surprised - all children have to do is run a simple Google search before finding all the information they need.
Additionally, with the news, it has come to children’s attention that not everyone gets what they want, and that magic seems to have been forgotten. Let’s not forget our own part in this problem; many of us shop online and leave tabs open often forgetting that our children are using our devices.
Our internet history is there for them to see and while we hate to consider it, our kids are extremely savvy online. Sure, they can even ask Siri if they want to without typing anything, and I did exactly that in my research.
It is a simple question every child asks at some point and, within seconds, a flood of articles on how parents should explain this to their kids comes up. It doesn’t take rocket science and it is there right under their noses.
It seems that no matter what we do once our children have access to the internet or friends with devices, we can’t stop the questions and we can’t stop the answers coming up.
Sadly, this does mean that, in the future, belief systems may change and we don’t know how that will impact the next generation.
But my opinion is that we may not have believers in years to come…
Emma Hayes is a thirty-something mum of two girls aged 16 and 10, planting her right into the teenage and tween-age years! Follow her on Twitter at @EmmaHayes25.

Emma Hayes

Emma Hayes is a busy mum to two girls aged 17 and 11 and is married to her childhood sweetheart.

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