In the article “Ditch the electronic devices, put kids on a digital diet,” Naomi Schaefer Riley discusses the importance of monitoring children’s “Digital Diet.” This means that parents should limit and monitor their children’s use of the internet similar to how a parent would limit their children’s candy intake. For example, if parents don’t manage their children’s regular diet, it can be easy for sweet-loving children to become very unhealthy or get diabetes. Similarly, without a “Digital Diet,” children can become addicted to the internet and start having a difficult time forming relationships with people in the real world.

Many young technology addicts are becoming so skilled with technology that they have forgotten how to play or form relationships with real people. One solution to managing this is for parents to limit the use of the internet to a certain period of time and make children do more physically and socially engaging activities, such as play outside or go to the mall with friends. By doing so, children will be able to get fresh air, exercise, or learn to make new friends with other kids outside. With more social interaction instead of digital, children can learn important life skills, whether it be learning to read another person’s facial expressions or just to behave properly in public when they can’t hide behind the anonymity of the web.

Another important solution is that parent’s need to manage and control the content of what children can view, and therefore, they should use apps to restrict access of certain websites that are inappropriate for children.

Finally, the last solution is to just spend more time with real people, such as family, friends, or even a dog! It would be nice for a change to hang out with friends and have real meaningful interactions with people face-to-face. We lived this way for thousands of years before telephones and the internet even existed. We can still do it today! Therefore, there are a lot of fun things to do without the use of social media or the internet. Parents’ managing children’s “Digital Diet” is an important process because if not properly managed, it can lead to negative effects. For example, children can become addicted to the internet and view content that may not be suitable for them. Therefore, parents should be vigilant in limiting and monitoring the use of children’s internet. Also, the benefit of managing children’s “Digital Diet” is that it can facilitate more meaningful interactions with people and connect them to reality rather than living in a fantasy world.

<Zoe Park St. Brendan School 4th Grade>