<div>The stature of digital technology is such that, without it, the general pace of our lives will divulge into bewilderment. Digital platforms being integrated intimately to our lifestyle have become the standards of our daily activities. In present times, we are connected to technology in a way or by another. They have improved our modes of living, transforming every aspect to which we are connected. </div><div> </div><div>Communication, education, business, governance, entertainment and so on, have all become inclusive dimensions of digital technology. It has perforated into more subtle aspects of live and relations. For instance, mobile devices have turned out to be the standard mode of communication between family members and friends confirming safety, security and connection. Digital parenting is an emerging trend assisted by technology. These are platforms and technology tools that aid parents to develop engaging and personalized experience to monitor their children throughout their busy schedules. With these, parenting has been brought under the realms technology. </div><div> </div><div>In present times, parents have to deal with diverse issues surrounding their children. It becomes arduous to handle these primary aspects of life along with tedious job and professional responsibilities. While dealing with the subtle issues of parenting, modern parents are faced with confusion and stress. </div><div> </div><div>Rising number of queries in the internet regarding these issues proves the condition. The former state of digital parenting can be traced back to online contents in forms of blogs and articles as well as classified platforms related to parenting. Parents started turning to internet in search of advice and solutions to deal with parenting issues. This led to growing bulk information in web domain referring to kids and parenting issues. However, internet is open source and most of the information are inadequate to deliver an effective solution. They are incomplete and irreverent in majority of contents. On the other hand, there is no authenticity of the source. Although few contents are being delivered by professional counselors, they provide incomplete insight to personalized problems. Most of the contents are from inexperienced individual sources describing how they solved their own issues. These materials provide no holistic approach and sometimes may even render adverse effects.</div><div> </div><div>Internet and mobile device has become essential elements for the generation. Digital parenting comprises of tools and services accessed via these same platforms. As mobile device connected to internet are common to parents and children, a set of tools deployed in internet, which can be accessed via these devices are used to address diverse issues of parenting. These tools help parents to manage their own lives around their children. They facilitate several aspects such as managing doctor visits, tracking social growth, monitoring cognitive and physical growth. Parents can set timeline and alerts on important dates such as medical checkups, appointment with a doctor, immunisation, exam schedules and so on. They provide a platform to trace the basic aspects of life and growth of their children.</div><div> </div><div>A good advantage of digital parenting channels is access to personalized resources. As every child is unique, brought up under unique circumstances, they require customised solution to diverse issues. To handle the problem of teenage, kid’s parents can access special guidance to settle down common issues. </div><div> </div><div>Services such as proactive connection to psychologists can be accessed to discuss any behavioral changes in a child. These tools can efficiently maintain every task surrounding a kid, which are required for their complete growth, both physically and mentally. The best way to use these platforms is to sign up for the service at the initial stages of conceiving and use them till the child reaches teenage. These provide a comprehensive data about the lifeline of the child and assist by offering better counseling as well as solutions to common problems. Just a digital device works as a one-stop solution to parenting. </div><div> </div><div>There are productivity tools, made available in the market offering intuitive and secure digital solutions.Digital platforms promote better parent-kid relationships by assisting parents to understand their kid’s behaviors, psychology and attitude. They can observe their children closely using digital technology. </div><div> </div><div>Interaction can be made better and simpler by helping parents to connect and respond to their children more effectively. For instance, social media tracking helps parents to monitor activities of their children in social media. By going through their updates and comments, parents can easily make out what their children are going through. This helps parents to understand their kids better and respond correctly at the right time. </div><div> </div><div>In addition to this, parents can monitor their kid’s activities in the internet and interfere with negative influences. Internet is both a bane and a boon for children depending on how they use it. It is an utmost necessity for parents to monitor children’s activity in the internet. Parental control of access to internet is essential. Digital parenting assist parents to take these measures both efficiently and effectively. As children are more prone to digital fronts, the rise of variety digital products has brought forth new complexities in parenting. Internet can be accessed via different platforms such as computers, tabs and smart phones. The thin barrier between positive and negative influence of internet on children can sometimes be the real issue in handling kids. In this scenario, tools used in digital parenting helps parents to control a home network, without being worried about the internet. These tools also assist parents to guide their kids when they are in the wrong path.</div><div> </div><div>Digital parenting is in an evolving stage. There are diverse tools and applications that are emerging as innovations to assist parenting hand in hand with modern lifestyle. As technology has become integral to our lives, there is no way but to live with its complexities. The best one can do is to customise the resources and utilise them in a meaningful way. New traits such as digital parenting can be a great boon for modern day parents if used properly. They help to get along with busy work schedules as well as to comply efficiently with responsibilities. Parenting is an unavoidable obligation, which has been a difficult task, mingled with the dynamics of a contemporary world. While parent works days and night to secure the future of their children, they cannot afford to spend the necessary time with them. In this backdrop, digital parenting is emerging not as a trend, but as a survival tool.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Authors Tushar Srivastava & Vatsal Goel, are Founders, www.nurturey.com</strong></div>
