I’M SURE I find myself in the same fix that thousands of other parents across Guyana experience these days.  It’s the situation where the time spent WITH your children is greatly reduced, primarily because they are constantly plugged into some piece of technology — the computer, texting, talking, Blackberry messaging and so on.
I’ve come to believe that there are really few objective cultural values that can be transmitted from one generation to the next.  I remember, about 30 years or so ago, my father telling me how impossible he found it to understand what I could possibly like about funk music.  Today, try as I might, I cannot understand the fascination or even tolerance my children have for rap or dancehall music.  Even less, I cannot understand the amount of time they spend online or on their phones, and what they are doing.

Technology has always been a multiplier.  The plough multiplied the number of acres that could be cultivated within a specific amount of time; the printing press multiplied the number of books that could be produced; the cotton engine multiplied the amount of cloth that could be processed; the electronic calculator multiplied the amount of mathematical functions (subtraction, addition and division) one could perform in a short space of time.
Of course, the multiplier effect of technology has always been incidental to its socio-cultural effect – the plough meant an increased food supply and healthier people; the Gutenberg press revolutionized the spread of Christianity; the cotton ‘gin’ caused an upsurge in the slave trade; and the electronic calculator has had an almost inestimable impact on education and business.
The multiplier effect of communication technology has been a basic but powerful one – it has exponentially multiplied the number of people we can connect with in any 24-hour period.  Of course, consequently, it has also divided that time among far more people; hence, significantly reducing our temporal commitment to each individual connected to.   
For some relationships, this may be an incremental or negligible increase.  The high school friend that your child spent an average of ten minutes talking to in class; he or she spends an additional of two or three minutes, on  average, chatting via Facebook or Blackberry messenger.
For other relationships however, particularly those within the home, this means a drastic reduction.  I don’t have any polls or studies to consult, but I know from personal experience and friends’ anecdotal evidence that the advent of every bit of advanced communication technology in the home has caused a subsequent drop in the time families spend talking to each other.
The problem is: how do we counter this?   
I know there have been some parents who have taken it to the complete opposite end of the scale, particularly relatives and friends who live in societies more wired than Guyana.  I don’t have a social network account, but I’ve heard stories of parents and children getting into public online conflicts, or parents involving themselves in their children’s conflicts with their peers on Facebook.
I’ve spent some time thinking about this and for now, I believe that there are some basic things parents can do in relation to their children and this culture of virtual living; all of them premised on one non-negotiable condition – be a good parent.
First of all, being a good parent means making time for your children.  As a workaholic I can confess that I can be accused of not spending as much time with my children as I probably could have.  What I have done is  try to ensure that the time I spend with them – particularly now that they are both legally (or close to) no longer classified strictly as children – is quality time, especially on vacation.  This is actual time spent unplugged, with actual human, face-to-face interaction.
Secondly, we need to realize that life goes forward, not backward, particularly at this stage of technological evolution.  We can’t expect our children to be competitive in the present environment and not be ‘plugged in’, or to spend all their time reading up on their homework.  Facebook, regular cellphones and Blackberries are all integral tools in the information age, an age built on networking as widely and as efficiently as possible.  What we can do as parents is to become ‘plugged in’ ourselves, partially to explore the geography of this brave new world, partially to see how our children are behaving in it.  It may be difficult to transfer the social structures and hierarchies of the real word into the virtual world – especially considering that the internet is increasingly the province of youth – but, I believe, it is our responsibility as parents to find a way.  Parents throughout history have faced challenges, from sabre-toothed tigers to the bubonic plague; ours is modern communication technology.
Finally, I would like to close by taking my hat off to US President Barack Obama; his presentation last week on stimulating employment was the sort of bold, unapologetic Presidential move that so many have been clamouring for him to make for the past year.