Kirk Cameron is bringing a new documentary to the big screen with the intention of helping parents tackle one of the most difficult challenges they face today: keeping their kids safe in a social media age.
“Kirk Cameron: CONNECT,” will be in theaters on February 27 and March 1. Cameron told LifeZette he first got the idea for the project when his six children, all of whom he shares with his wife of 27 years, Chelsea Noble, began reaching the “smartphone age.”
“I made this movie from a parent’s point of view,” he told LifeZette. “And although technology is great and can be used for good, we still have to make sure we don’t give our kids tools that are too powerful for them to comprehend.”
He continued, “Technology is everywhere and is converging, so we have to learn to deal with it because it’s not going anywhere. We are all walking through this together — we are like the guinea pigs of parenting in the age of social media. No one has ever done this before, so in many aspects, we are blazing a trail through the jungle of social media.”
It’s not uncommon to hear about children as young as 10 — and sometimes even younger — having their own phones. Is there a “right” time for a child to have a phone? Cameron said it wasn’t so much about being of a certain age but of a certain maturity level.
“Kids should get a phone when they need it, not when they want it. That’s a big difference,” he said. “All kids mature at different levels. For example, if a child was babysitting and there was no landline, sure — a phone makes sense so calls can be made if anything were to happen. But that doesn’t mean the phone comes prepared with Facebook, SnapChat and Instagram.”
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In his new documentary, Cameron — who is based in California — spoke with a neurosurgeon, a pastor, an author, and several founders of organizations who focus on positive child development and online safety.
He found that social media have in some instances created anxious, depressed, and, ironically, disconnected kids thanks to increased peer pressure and online bullying.
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“It’s scary, the many dangers out there when it comes to too much technology,” said Cameron. “[This] can affect children’s perception of themselves and their peers, their morals, values, the world around them, and how they communicate with one another. If we don’t teach them now, who knows how they will be as teenagers in relation to social media? Will they know how to communicate face to face with someone on an interview, or make phone calls and not just text? How will they relate to their spouses in the future?”
So what can parents do to help alleviate any potential struggles they encounter when it comes to social media and their kids? Cameron said it’s “all about being a constant part of [your] child’s life.”
“At the end of the day,” said the “Growing Pains” star, “we have to be in a relationship with our kids and stay connected with them. We need to teach our kids morals and values and positive wisdom that will help lead them to success. Parents need to be present in the lives of their children — not just by being there — but [by being] fully engaged. We need to strive to be the kind of person we want our child to become.”
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Cameron is right. Speaking as a mother, this writer feels it is scary to think about how social media-obsessed kids will be as teenagers — and how this will shape them into communicating and relating to others as they grow older.
Kids are living in a world of instant gratification. If they want to watch a movie, they can easily have hundreds of films at their disposal thanks to the click of a button — they’ll never know what it was like going to the local Blockbuster (“What’s that?” you can hear them asking) and searching out a movie for a Friday night with friends. If they want music, they can easily download it instead of going to the local music store and rummaging through records and CDs.
If they need information for a book report, all they have to do is google a topic and up pops hundreds or even thousands of responses. They will never know the experience of going to a library and looking through the card catalogue and searching for a book (hoping it was in the correct place) — and then searching through that book for the correct answer or the information they need.
Everything is at the tip of their fingertips, and we as parents need to know how to control what information our children can access and how they interact with others online and the world.
Having had the opportunity to watch Cameron’s latest film, and speaking as a parent, “CONNECT” is a tool that all parents should use to prepare themselves for raising kids in a world of social media and its increasing influence. It will help them to confront head-on these important issues.
“Kirk Cameron: CONNECT” will appear in 750 select theaters on February 27 and March 1. Get more information on the movie.
Melissa Mullins is a freelance writer based in Virginia.
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