Teens need technology ~ How to Use it to Your Advantage

Times have changed and will continue to change when it comes to technology…you can’t stop it. The thing is that these days Teens need technology and we need to find ways to use it to our advantage.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of XFINITY. The opinions and text are all mine.

I love technology, however I used to not be like that..at all! I spent many years loving little house on the prairie and wishing my life were simpler and more like the good ol days. I did everything…ground my own flour, cooked EVERYTHING from scratch, had a big garden…etc. These days they call it sustainable living. I balked at the technology industry moving forward and creeping into my peaceful life.

However as computers and technology evolved I decided to get a computer for doing my bills online and printing crafty things, research and things like that. I found…I REALLY LOVED IT. It was helpful in my day to day life and my (older) kids began to use it for homework projects. There was no WiFi…just plug in the wall computer.

Back then technology became an added luxury and enhanced our lives however today technology is not a luxury but has become a NEED.

My 3 younger kids (out of our 7) live in a totally different generation of technology than our older 4 kids did! Over the years we have had to learn to parent in a different way and navigate the technology maze…and as much as we wanted to push back…it was going to be a part of our lives whether we wanted it or not.

I wouldn’t say we entered the “if you can’t beat em, join em” group, but we did decide to learn all we could about cell phone use, the apps that go on them, computers, computer filters etc. I remember when Instagram was being touted as a dangerous app for kids! No I’m not kidding!

Teens need technology ~ How to Use it to Your Advantage

Advantage #1 ~

One way we have used technology to our advantage is to learn every angle of Social Media, Apps etc. As a parent, rather than put your head in the sand and pretend everything is ok, we’ve done a TON of research every time something new comes out.

My kids are not allowed to have any Social Media accounts that I can’t follow them on. They don’t like it, but it keeps them accountable. We can also keep tabs on some of their activities…ok yes I stalk my teens! It’s ok..they know.

School will be starting soon and guess what…this year all students in the High School will be getting Chromebooks. All assignments and communication from classes and teachers will be through those Chromebooks.

One of my daughters had a school issued Chromebook last year and we discovered that many of her friends did not have very good WiFi and had a hard time keeping up.

Which leads to ….

Advantage #2 ~

Another way we use technology to our advantage with our teens is to have the BEST internet, WIFI and TV.

We’ve had absolutely no problem with this as we have had XFINITY high speed internet and WiFi for years. Some of our daughters friends would come over to hook up to our WiFi so they could get their homework done quickly! Before the Chromebooks were issued they would use our computer because of the high speed internet. Want to check the speed of your internet connection? You can go to Speedtest and check it!

Advantage #3 ~

I’d say one of the best technologies that we use as a family for family TV time, is the XFINITY On Demand feature. With sports and all of the other church, high school and friendship activities that keep our teens busy on most nights, On Demand enables us to go back and watch our favorite shows and movies TOGETHER anytime we want!

Now technology with XFINITY has taken another leap! The next thing we really want to try is the XFINITY X1! Woweee…this is a leap alright. Speak into the remote to find just what you are looking for! We would love this for finding movies. It’s hard sometimes to scroll through a million movies just by the titles until you find one you want.

With the XFINITY X1 you can speak into it and say for example “show me gymnastics” and boom the Olympics would come up and anything related to gymnastics. No more searching!

Whoosh that would be such a time saver for our little bit of cherished family time we have together.

There is no getting around technology my friend. When it comes to the fact that Teens need Technology, we can parent in such a way and take advantage of each moment together while relaxing or keeping up with homework.

Be the place to go for your teens friends to get their homework done…

Be the place to go to watch those shows that they missed on nights when sports and academics was the priority and down time didn’t exist.

Be the place for your teens friends to relax and watch those favorite shows and movies.

Be the place… Take advantage of technology… but don’t get lost in it.

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of XFINITY. The opinions and text are all mine. Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.