By Matthew Greeley | Associate Director of Communications
In a relatively new initiative called “Untapped Potential,” parents in Princeton’s St. Paul School community are being invited to share fellowship and conversation on topics important to their roles as guardians.
Spearheaded by the school’s Catholic Identity Committee, there have been two of these gatherings – Father Gabriel Zeis, diocesan vicar for Catholic education, who spoke Feb. 1 on God’s hand at work in a child’s life; and April 19, when I spoke on “Parenting in the Digital Age,” a daunting task given the weight that social media has in our society at large.
While in no way an expert on the topic, I shared from my own experience as a parent and former high school teacher and youth minister, while leaning on some current literature about the topic and trends. The 20 or so St. Paul School parents and I prayed, broke bread and talked about the fears, pressures and temptations that we face as parents in this digital age.
I began by admitting that I am addicted, totally attached, to my cell phone. Others seemed to echo that attachment. As a father, I was embarrassed to admit that my children all too often see me on my phone – whether it is work related or for my Candy Crush or Facebook fix. As parents, the keyword that stood out was “modeling.” We need to model the behavior we hope to see our children employ. And that takes practice and awareness.
The tech industries are adept at building devices and apps that draw us in and make us want them, but while we might think this constant connectivity builds community, what we shared in large part was that the digital world is creating separation and a very real lack of connectivity in our day-to-day lives.
Yes, parents admitted that we do not want to have our children ostracized for being “the only ones” without the phone or latest game system, but that means being responsible and active in creating a safe environment in which our children might plug in; that safe environment includes definite boundaries and limits.
The conversation turned to the actual content that our young people have access to in this digital age. One great piece of wisdom shared by Alice Teti, co-organizer of the speaker series and mother of three current St. Paul School students, concerned advertising in the app world. Parents might be loath to actually purchase apps that could be downloaded for free for their children, but buying them actually means limiting, or even eliminating, advertisements. She also shared that she gleaned this wisdom from her teenage daughter.
To me, “Untapped Potential” is a great example of what schools can do to engage parents in new, innovative ways. In addition, Dr. Ryan Killeen, school principal, has started a blog and podcast not only to build a sense of community, but also to delve into topics that parents and families deal with on a daily basis.
“In our Catholic school, we all have similar goals and struggles and want to benefit from the collective wisdom of our community,” he said.