Tech with Tact: Raising Wise & Respectful Digital Citizens 💬
#ParentingInsight #FocusFriday
TL;DR: This week, we focused on helping our children become kind, thoughtful, and wise digital citizens. We practiced reframing unkind speech, reflected on real digital dilemmas, and gamified our learning with some engaging online activities. Tech manners matter. Teaching them starts with the heart, not just the hardware.
"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
— Colossians 4:6 (NIV)
Whether we’re texting, posting, gaming, or just chatting across the dinner table, words matter. Respectful digital citizens begin as respectful human beings. Grace doesn’t stop at the screen.
This Week’s Highlights
This was Week 2 of our Digital Safety & Etiquette series. Our focus: kindness, manners, and the power of thinking before you share.
Here’s what we explored:
📞 Real-Life Call = Real-Life Lesson
One child accidentally dialed a random number, which led to multiple calls back from an unknown adult. We used it as a coaching moment: how do we respond respectfully and wisely when someone wants personal info?
Lesson: Don’t panic. Stay polite. Protect personal details. Call in a parent. Then breathe. And maybe delete that number from recent history.
🗣 Reframe the Rude
We asked: “Have you ever heard (or said) something unkind?” Then: “How could it be said with kindness instead?”
From school drama to sports incidents, this opened up big conversations. We unpacked how tone, words, and truth all play a role in tech (and real-life) communication.
🕹 Played Google’s Be Internet Awesome Games
Kind Kingdom – It's cool to be kind
Tower of Treasure – Secure your secrets
These were a hit. Engaging. Educational. Slightly addictive. Now the bar has been raised: “Will there be a game next time too?” Pray for us.
📚 Storytime, as always
We kicked off sessions with bite-sized books like:
But It’s Just a Game by Julia Cook – Teaches healthy tech boundaries through a boy’s gaming obsession
Troll Stinks by Jeanne Willis – A cautionary tale about online bullying and consequences
Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal – A poetic reminder about the power of word to hurt or to heal
Tek: The Modern Cave Boy by Patrick McDonnell – Shows how screens can disconnect us from real life (and real people)
Each one planted a seed. Conversations bloomed.
Tech Tact Checklist
Here’s a quick gut-check for parents raising digital citizens:
☐ Have we practiced thinking before sharing or clicking?
☐ Are our children learning how to reframe rude or mean speech?
☐ Do they know when to ask for help in a tricky digital moment?
☐ Are we cultivating habits of respect, even in online spaces?
☐ Do we talk about tech like a tool—not a toy?
🏁 Action Step
Pick one of these to do this week:
Ask: “Have you ever heard someone say something, online or elsewhere, that made you uncomfortable?” Talk it through.
Play Kind Kingdom or Tower of Treasure together and discuss the takeaways.
Read Troll Stinks or Words and Your Heart and share your own tech-manners story.
Remember: One kind word can travel farther than a thousand megabytes.
Want to bless another parent? Share one idea or resource that’s helped you raise a respectful digital citizen. Your experience might shape someone else’s strategy.