Here's the hard truth: culture is LOUD. And it gets louder every year. Social media, influencers, advertising—they're all competing for your child's attention and identity.
The Volume War
You can't out-shout culture. If you try to yell louder, you'll just exhaust yourself. The goal isn't volume—it's depth.
Think of it this way: culture is like a million apps running in the background. Your job as a parent is to install the operating system. If the OS is solid, the apps won't crash the system.
Installing the Operating System
The 'operating system' is their core identity: 'I am loved. I belong. I am valuable regardless of performance.' Once that's installed, they can navigate the noise.
How do you install it?
- Repetition. Daily affirmations, spoken consistently.
- Presence. You can't outsource this. Screens can entertain; only presence can form identity.
- Modeling. Let them see you secure in your own identity. Kids imitate what they see.
Speaking First
The goal is to speak into their identity before screens do. That doesn't mean you'll never let them use technology. It means you'll form them first, so they can engage technology from a place of security, not searching.