I rave a lot about how bad the internet is for yourself and for the children in your life. But that doesn’t mean that I hate it or that think it’s all bad. I think that the online world is fascinating, and amazing.
After all, it’s how you’re reading this right now.
The online world let’s us transcend time and space to communicate with people in amazing ways, about all sorts of things in all sorts of fashions.
“The internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.” — Jon Stewart
There’s so much good out there if we would only seek it out and make time to invest in it, and show our children how to access it, rather than the junk that most companies, devices, and peers will point them towards.
If you’re a parent or caregiver looking to promote good media in your child’s life, here are a few recommendations I’d give for what you should let your child do online:
#1: Watch Salamander Yoga videos
This is oddly specific, but I’m such a fan I had to include it.
Scratch Garden, a channel on YouTube, has created about five 5-minute yoga breaks for kids. They’re these silly, slow stimulation videos that walk kids through different yoga poses as if they’re a salamander outside having to do these things.
My roommate and I use them myself on occasion to chill out and have fun for a few minutes.
During a particularly stressful week of college last semester, a group of friends and I gathered together for homework and a movie, and I ended up pulling up one of the videos for them at the end of the night.
While they were resistant at first, we ended up having a great time with it, and they asked to do another one as the first 5-minute timer wrapped up.
“We think that yoga could provide tools for children and young people to remain centered or regain focus, so they may cope with the stress and challenges they experience in their everyday lives. Such tools are needed in the world and societies where children are born into today.” — Ingunn Hagen and Usha Nayar in Front Psychiatry
The laughter and silliness ensued, and I could tell we were all a little bit calmer and happier.
Low stimulation exercise, yoga and meditation videos like these can do amazing things for your kids, and show them what positive content exists online.
This article was originally published at Medium. Republished with permission from the author.
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