We continue with our series of interviews dedicated to Father's Month with one we have done to the Madrid journalist Miguel Angel Uriondo, father of two children of 3 and almost a year old and very passionate about technology. With him we have talked about a reality that is already part of our family life: the new technologies.
Miguel writes every month in 'Economic News' articles related to the latest trends in telecommunications and technology. He is the author of the ALSD blog, published in Expansion.com, which is among the five most visited of the leading economic information newspaper in Spain, in addition to having won the Vodafone Journalism Award in 2010, the Accenture Prize in 2012 and having been a finalist in the last edition of the Young and Brilliant Diageo Prize in the national category
Do you think that this generation of digital natives such as our children has a different way of thinking driven by new technologies? What advantages and disadvantages do you think they will have because they are digital natives? Do you think you think less with technology?
Even the way we think and relate to the world and those around us has changed us. The accumulation of knowledge will be less important for our children than the ability to elaborate complex thoughts based on their ability to locate information online. I always found the memorial study ridiculous, and now it is even more unnecessary. Advantages? They will not have to think about these things. It will be their world and they will accept it as such. Disadvantages? Fahrenheit 451 will be unfeasible, who the hell would want to keep books in memory and can have them in Dropbox?
Technology does not make us think less, although it is true that it is able to hinder a certain type of introspection. Sometimes I wonder if a world without boredom is really positive. I try to solve it by running or in the gym, with things that make me get away from the screens and leave me some time for me.
Today's children learn to handle a smartphone rather than talk, do you see it positive that children approach new technologies from an early age?
It is not good that they approach, it is that it is against their nature not to allow it. Away from the technology that you do use is like not allowing them to sit in a chair. It's okay to organize your time with her, teach them to value her and prevent them from sacrificing other important things for her, but deprive them of her? Absurd. My three-year-old daughter has her own iPod Touch loaded with puzzles and educational games. But that does not make her want to play less with her mother or with me. It is one more toy.
What measures should parents take for the safe use of new technologies?
That seems key to me. I'm tired of hearing short parents looking to demonize things that they simply don't understand. "Violent video games!" The radicals cry out. It is easy to answer: it is a product of 70 euros, where did you get the money to buy it? Didn't you see the PEGI label with the minimum recommended age in the box? In this type of thing, the problem is always of those who do not care about what their children do and prefer to blame one or more industries for their own lack of care. In general, we live in a country where it is always easier to blame things on others instead of assuming our individual responsibility.
Children are frequent users of smartphones, tablets and computers, and parents often worry about the time they spend in front of a screen, do you think we should limit the use time? Is there less communication in the family in general?
With social networks, there is less communication even in marriages. We are all adjusting to a new way of living. How to improve communication? Doing things all together. It helps to reflect on what we dedicate our time to. In my family you don't watch conventional television. We choose which programs we will see together and we do not spend much time a day. We are very productive, creative and restless. My wife documented and wrote her novel practically the girl under her arm. We simply hope to convey something by example.
What standards do you have at home with technology and your kids? What do you allow them and what not?
The oldest is only three years old, but for months she has been able to download paid applications from mobile app stores. We learned that it was better to always leave the phone in airplane mode and without Wi-Fi connection. We demand that you be respectful of the volume and we will not let you take it out of the house. There are days when it gets heavy with gossip and you have doubts. "Will I be wrong?", But then you think: "that same attitude was with the puzzle that I kept when she wanted to play." It's not because it's technology, it's because he's discovering frustration and, as usual, he doesn't like it ...
How will you explain to your children what the technological revolution of the 21st century has been?
It will be exciting. Two years ago, my nephew took a Blackberry, tried to control the screen with his finger and, being unable, said "it is broken." It was a great diagnosis of the challenges faced by the Canadian company at that time. I sincerely believe that so many changes await us in the coming years that it will not be easy to explain certain things. I imagine conversations like: "Dad, how was the Holocaust possible? No one read the hopeless tweets of the Jewish people?" How to explain to them that there was a time when the clock only marked the time and the glasses only served to correct the view. They will wear biometrics and communication products on their wrist and use augmented reality glasses. My parents spent forty years without relevant technological changes. We are on the roof of a train that moves very fast.
Do you think they have to change the methods in schools? In what direction? What would you do?
Radically. My experience so far makes me think that many of the skills taught in Children, from what I have seen so far, should not undergo changes. They teach them to learn and I think they do well. But, the more I think about it, the more I believe that the education of the future will not be in memorization. Teachers will foster the ability to relate concepts and encourage original thinking. I have no doubt that in the future schools will have systems related to the recent Big Data trend that will allow teachers to discern the degree of originality of work and exams based on real-time comparison with databases, both structured and unstructured. Everyone will know the answer to the questions, but not all kids can understand the implications of the answers. I think there will be less hard work and the brilliance and the ability to adapt to new environments with ease will be rewarded more. Hopefully, we will begin to listen more to children than ever before and we may make important progress thanks to them. The children are not that they think "from outside the box", it is that they have not yet given us time to put one on them. If we incorporate them into the innovation chain, they will teach us many things.
Do you think that playing on the iPad or consoles is good, is it bad? Why?
I have to answer that it's good, because I've done it all my life and I'm still doing it. You improve eye-hand coordination, you work to solve complex problems, you get used to interpreting roles and you develop empathy, you learn to manage complex environments, in online games you improve social skills and you develop micro-management and leadership abilities ... The question that I I do is always the opposite: how can so many people live without playing? I read in the newspapers the garbage they put on television and I already have the answer. Can someone who sees save me really feel superior than anyone else for their hobbies? I have written several things about the phenomenon of gamification, the use of game dynamics in working life and in your day to day. Not letting children play is a failure statement.
There is talk of the negative effect that new technologies have on parents because they are very distracted, do not concentrate and there are more accidents in homes. It's bad. Any advice or trick?
Disconnect. I would like to say that I do it whenever I should, but it is not so. I'm a damn workaholic, and my job is technology. To correct myself, I try to focus on the task I am doing at each moment. If I am with my children, I give them my full attention. If I'm cooking, exactly the same. Multitasking is a demanding lover, but you have to learn to say no. I'm in it, but it's hard for me.
At what age do you think it is good to give a child his first cell phone and why?
As I said, my daughter has something similar since Christmas, with three years recently. Without wireless capabilities, yes. Only educational games selected and installed by us. I think that when I get older, manufacturers will have already designed specific terminals for children that, beyond a SpongeBob housing, include really useful tools for parents. The most important? Fenced gardens. I don't care at what age my children have their first mobiles, but I do want to know who they talk to. It is not necessary to meddle in what he says, but to establish white lists of authorized contacts. negotiated directly with them. I would also like an emergency button so that if you get lost in the mall it is not hard for me to find you by geolocation. The Emporia company manufactures phones for older gentlemen, I'm curious about the first really interesting mobiles for children. Of course, I am talking about the first years. After a hundred points, you just have to trust that you have educated your children well, given them the right tools and built enough trust relationships to ask if they have doubts. Anything else is to put doors to the field.
We thank Miguel Angel Uriondo You have kindly agreed to answer our questions. It has been very interesting to have his vision on the influence of new technologies on children and in our daily lives.
