In this blog post “So why do you only give your kids 45 minutes a day on the computer?” on Feb 9th 2009 Richardson time talks about his parenting philosophies when it comes to his children’s media time.  ”Parenting in the digital age can be complex, especially when trying to decide the best use of technology for one’s own children” (Richardson 101).  It’s very interesting to learn that as big of a media user as Richardson is, he finds his wife and himself to be more restrictive than most parents when it comes to their kids and media.  Richardson discusses how upon mentioning his “45 minutes a day rule” during a presentation he was bombarded with questions about what is appropriate for children time-wise on the computer.

After reading this blog post I’ve gained much respect for Will Richardson, because instead of giving people a black and white answer he simply responding with the most realistic answer possible: “It’s going to be different for every kid and every set of parents” (Richardson 101).  And that’s the truth.  It’s going to be a combination of what the parents are comfortable with, and the maturity level of the child as far as age, and level of exposure to certain things in the real world.  Richardson also goes to say that he’s not making himself to be the poster-child of parents, but communication and rules are important when letting your children out into the world of media.  You could also supplement your own rules and guidelines with online restrictions to what websites your children can and cannot access. Here is a useful link I found that gives one a basis of general rules they should talk about with their children: http://www.safekids.com/kids-rules-for-online-safety/

Now being that I do not have children, I cannot completely submerge myself in this issue .  I can however say that if/when I do have kids i will probably have restrictions of my own.  It’s good to be interactive in the digital age but at the same time I would not want my children glued to a computer or an iphone all day.  Personally, I did not get my first cell phone until I was 15, and I survived just fine.  I was more of an outdoor kid however, and did not start really using computers until highschool.  Richardson sums this up nicely with my favorite line from this blog post: “The real cuts and scrapes they get in their physical worlds are more important than the virtual ones” (Richardson 102)