Shilpa Shetty urges parents to raise digitally aware children

Mumbai: Actress Shilpa Shetty decided to stress the need to raise digitally aware children instead of digitally addicted children.

Speaking her mind as a concerned mother of two, Shilpa pointed out that the internet is a powerful tool that plays a crucial role in shaping young minds.

She added that it is the responsibility of the parents to keep a check on the level of internet exposure the kids get, ensuring a healthy generation of digitally aware, yet not digitally addicted people.

In the video uploaded by Shilpa on her IG, she was heard saying, “Today is Safer Internet Day, and I wanted to speak from my heart for a minute. It couldn’t be a better day to broach this topic, and not as a public figure but as a concerned mother. The internet is a powerful teacher, a playground for creativity. So with the pros come the cons, and we must be aware of them.”

“You know it can also expose young minds to things that they’re not ready for, and as parents, our role isn’t to just simply ban technology; it’s to balance the access and exposure to it,” she added.

Shilpa shared that as parents, it is crucial to teach young minds that not everything on the internet is real.

She said, “So how do we do this? Know what your child is watching, scrolling, and consuming. It’s also very important to talk openly. Curiosity grows in silence, not in conversation, and please use parental controls, but more importantly, build trust. Supervision till 16, I believe, isn’t control, it’s care. Teach them that not everything online is real, kind or even safe.”

Shilpa hopes to bring a small change regarding raising digitally aware children through this conversation.

“And here’s the truth, I don’t have all the answers, but I want to start a real conversation today, and we have to, you know, bring this change about together. Let’s stop parenting in isolation and let’s work towards raising digitally aware and not digitally addicted children. So guidance today creates confidence tomorrow, and we need that for our future,” her post concluded.