Editorial: Is 21st C digital parenting that different?

I had friends who owned Nintendo and Sony and we spent hours playing Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog and Mortal Kombat.

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In my house, we had one computer with Windows that my older sister and I fought over and another Apple computer which I called the 'green screen', it didn't have an operating system. My sister was addicted to Lemmings.

There was also Leisure Suit Larry, my cousins and I used to break in to play this by memorising the answers to questions written for adults. In all, we spent hours of screen-time some weekends.

I remember a weekend that a friend and I decided to attempt a new world record for a video game marathon. We spent the next eight-hours playing Donkey Kong.

Meantime, the longest video game marathon on a football game record is 48 hours and 49 minutes, held by a Birmingham fellow.

My household didn't actually get the internet until after 2002, so I had to study for my Higher School Certificate, now University Admission Index, at the library.

The high-school I attended had a survey for hottest girl, which the boys coded, and we were able to play multi-player Quake at the end of software design lessons.

This was before Facebook, and Snapchat and Instagram and the obsession with documentation.

(For those people who have sent me a friend request, I'm not ignoring you, I just chose not to spend connecting via social media. My friends think I'm insane, I think I'm a step closer to freedom - it's the Aquarius in me.)

I feel lucky that my teenage and young adult years were not captured and broadcast.

I was lucky that when I left the playground I got to leave it all behind, kids these days take the playground home on their devices. It's also harder to identify bullying, as its much quieter these days as it takes on a different form.

Much of children's online behaviour is just kids copying from adults. Parents, and all adults, should be leading by example to teach kids online manners and the correct use of their phones.

For more information visit: esafety.gov.au

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