In a recent post, I explored the concept of “loose parts” in children’s play. When children play with loose parts such as cardboard boxes, pebbles, sticks, even paper clips, they have the freedom to create their own worlds instead of playing within the bounds of someone else’s design. In Technology’s Child, I argue that although loose parts can be found in digital form, they may not be quite as “loose” as in the analog world. I still stand by the arguments I used to support this claim, but I’ve recently started thinking about instances when the digital realm might actually be “looser” than the analog world.

After an early dinner last Wednesday, I set Oliver up with his tablet and headphones (in the spirit of good enough digital parenting) and logged onto the live stream of a panel discussion taking place at the University of Washington (UW), titled Demystifying ChatGPT for Academics.

The panelists talked about how they’re using ChatGPT in their university teaching and what opportunities and challenges they see when it comes to teaching and learning with AI. In this post, I discuss three opportunities and three concerns that stood out to me and how they connect to the two-step framework I describe in Technology’s Child.

When it comes to kids and screens, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises parents that less is best. In fact, children younger than 18 months should have no screen time at all, according to the AAP.

The one exception? Video chat.

Unlike watching a TV show or interacting with an app on a tablet or phone, video chat offers children a socially contingent experience–there’s a back and forth between the child and another person who responds directly to what the child says and does.

As a parent, especially if you’re the non-gaming kind, you may have wondered if all that time your child spends playing video games is healthy or not. But what’s a parent to do when they’re being encouraged to sign their kids up for Minecraft camps one day, only to read news stories linking video games to violent behavior the next?

Cardboard boxes, sand, pebbles…even paper clips. With “loose parts” like these, children create their own worlds instead of playing within the boundaries of someone else’s design. This kind of open-ended, self-directed play is critical to development, supporting important cognitive processes such as symbolic thinking. But do loose parts come in digital form?

The “good enough” parent doesn’t settle for imperfection but embraces it, both as a way to support their children’s resilience and as a way to stay sane during the exhilaration and exhaustion of parenthood. The good enough digital parent does the same thing, but with technology.

The two-step decision tool applies equally well to the wild world of social media as it does to the walled gardens of preschool apps. A 17-year-old’s tech use may look very different from a seven-year-old’s, but the goal is the same: digital experiences that are in your child’s control and supported by the people in their lives.

In my last post, I introduced the two-step decision tool and showed how it can be used to make decisions about how much and what kind of digital experiences are right for young children. In this post, we’ll examine how the two-step decision tool can apply to school-aged children and tweens. As children get older, the platforms and devices they use may change and what they do with them will surely get more complicated. But the basic approach remains the same.

The task of managing a child’s technology use can feel like a moving target, especially in the midst of a technology ecosystem that’s changing as quickly as your child is. I developed the two-step-decision tool to support a child’s positive experiences with technology. It can be applied during all ages and stages of development. Think of it as your North Star to guide your technology-related parenting decisions.