My son, who is now 15, started blogging in 2008, maybe earlier. We always encouraged him to write. Back in 2008, I posted a note about his favorite TV show.
Just like millions of moms around the world, I too have an overflowing box of memories with his poems, essays, critiques, opinions and letters. Why letters? Because he enjoys writing in Tamil and even if he can tell me something directly, he finds it fun to write it, especially when I am working.
A lot of his growing years have been spent hanging around the computer and I am guilty of telling him what blogging is such as I interpret it and the next thing I knew, he wanted one of his own. I thought it was a good idea. There was no looking back. Soon, he was more prolific than I am and with his varied interests, never at a loss for words. Of course, with increasing school work, he doesn’t blog as often as he would like to, but he has not lost the habit of actually writing – his stack of notebooks is proof. He is part of an active music community online.
In fact, during the AtoZ Challenge in April 2013, he was kind enough to guest post here with a book review of “Around the World in 80 Tales” by Saviour Pirotta for the letter F when I was unwell. His post was syndicated on the author’s site.
When people come to know that he blogs, the reaction is varied. Besides those who have no idea what we’re talking about, the ones that are familiar with blogging usually wonder if it is such a good thing.
I say yes. I think there are many benefits to children blogging.
Yes, children should be encouraged to blog
In times when everyone, their aunt, niece, and cousin by marriage, is a blogger, I often get the question, Should children be encouraged to blog? This is usually in response to the information that my 15-year-old son blogs, and has been for more than eight years now.
Our family is big on the three R’s – reading, writing and ‘rithmetic. I wrote a diary as a child during my teen years. My mom insisted I write about every little trip, regardless of how short or long the duration. Since we traveled mostly by train, I was tasked with writing down the names of stations along the way.
Setting up a blog is easier than ABC today, and I’ve come across several amazing child bloggers who are not only consistent but also very good writers. The ability to articulate and have opinions is a plus point.
When my son set up his first blog, I was thrilled that this little guy could understand the platform so quickly. What amazed me was the focus with which he did it. Then he set up his next two blogs in the span of a month, which was not such a brilliant idea. I talked to him about it, and he understood the logic behind not spreading himself too thin.
Here are some of my reasons for encouraging my son to blog, or the benefits of blogging for children:
- Improved grammar and sentence formation
- Gave structure to his writing
- Motivated him to read more
- Great writing practice without the pressure of being graded (except by his parents)
- Helped him explore different forms of writing – poetry, reviews, dialog, essays.
- Better planning, especially while writing a series or multi-part post
- Enhanced his vocabulary
- Made him more articulate
- Became better at expressing himself
- Better performance at school
- Be more disciplined, as in sticking to a schedule
- Better planning – he actually had an editorial calendar
- Made him a good book reviewer
- Motivated him to learn to read and write our mother tongue, Tamil on his own
- Kept him occupied
- Made him a good letter/email writer
- Improved his summary and précis writing ability
Blogging, at its core, is essentially journaling or diary-writing as we knew it. It is amazing to write regularly and go back and read what you’ve written. I also insisted that my son maintain a diary where he had to fill in three columns every day:
- Chores done
- One Act of Kindness
- Three things that made him happy
It fills my heart to read his journals now. Since he has other hobbies like music which requires dedicated practice and sketching, which takes hours of his time, besides reading, he no longer maintains the journal but there is something else he continues to do, which is maintaining our Happiness Jar. More about this in another post.
A word of caution, though. We know that the Internet can be a big bad place, so here are some things I did. Explained to my son that he must:
- Never chat with anyone online
- Never email anyone without our supervision
- Never give out personal information (and we explained what that meant)
- Always show tus he draft/post preview before publishing the post
- Always keep us informed of his online activities.
We considered keeping the blog private, but decided against that since we monitor it anyway. We also made use of privacy settings in the browser and computer. Finally, we ensured that our hand was always available to hold when he needed it.
Yes, I think children must be encouraged to blog.
Question for you:
Should children be encouraged to blog?
If yes, why?
If no, why not?
Ah, just one more thing:
A gentle reminder:
In my previous post, Soul Smiles, I announced that I am compiling reader quotes on “Happiness is…” to celebrate ten years of blogging. I will be publishing this compilation on Sunday, July 28, 2013.
A gentle reminder to you, if you haven’t already contributed your quote. Just complete the line “Happiness is…..” with what happiness means to you, here in the comments or email me at vidya at vidyasury dot com, along with your link. If you’ve already responded, thank you very much!
I agree with your reasons, Vidya! I think it is a boon if they blog. They are encouraged to put down their thoughts, ideas and feelings in words. I actually wish that I had blogging when I was growing up. And you know that my son blogs and loves it. Lovely post, Vidya!
I think that it’s a great way to help our children express themselves. In the past many of us would have written journals as we grew up, but technology is making pen and paper more and more redundant so blogging seems a natural progression.
And having a blogging parent is obviously a good role model. As for your son Vidya, if his blogs are any where near as entertaining as yours he will have a massive following in no time!
Hi Vidya,
I don’t see anything wrong with it. I would rather have a kid blogging then putting everything on FB.
As Carolyn says, we use to write in a diary or journal, computers make it much easier for the young to write about there thoughts, get answers or opinion from others.
Sounds good to me. I vote Yes.
Debbie
–I would encourage blogging for children…only if the platform is a safe space for them to release their words)
It is a great way to express, write poetry, & be insightful. And it would be nice to receive encouraging, educational comments, too.
…but this space should also be monitored (just like Facebook)
Xxxx LOVE you more than strawberry ice-cream.
I agree with ya, Vidya. They ought to blog. That helps them bring out their thoughts cause these days they just don’t have time to talk to their parents and thus, parents can read their thoughts by subscribing to their blogs.
Happy Saturday morning 🙂
In 2002 when we toured the US, my son’s teacher asked him to write a diary. He hated that but he loved putting up posts of the journey – we did it through geocities which has since closed. So yes, if that’s what the kid wants I say go for it.
And on the happiness note .. Happiness is a loving hug. Sending happiness and hugs your way Vidya.
Its honestly my dream to gift my child a blog. I would keep an account of his or her growth until he or she is big enough to write themselves. Writing has been such an eternal part of my life I cannot imagine my child being away from it 🙂 and you know I am sure that Vidur must be quite happy to have a mother who introduced him to this wonderful world 🙂
Hi Vidya!
I think that children should be encouraged to blog, with adult guidance, of course, dependent on the child’s age…
It has multiple benefits, expanding creativity being one of them. It can provide a therapeutic outlet for those kids who find it difficult to express themselves verbally, like the introverts…
To be honest, I don’t know any kids from my community who blog… (very sad…) though it’s not too surprising because the only adult bloggers I know, are the ones from the online community… (doubly sad…)
I think it’s a wonderful way of encouraging a child to put down in words their feelings and experiences – much like a diary in the ‘old days’. When a child is keen on writing as Vidur is, it is important that find their voice and get feedback from a wider audience than their parents and teachers. I have been encouraging Jonathan to start a blog – his writing is quite good for his age, but his parents aren’t too keen since he’s a computer addict already! 😉 Wouldn’t a community of child bloggers be a great idea? 🙂
Great post Vidya and I think that is brilliant that your son has been blogging for 5 years.
I can also see that it would have many positive benefits besides writing- love it’ and forgot to do happiness i for you- emailing you now 🙁
Valid points there Vidya. In todays world of information technology, for the children, having a blog is just moving ahead with the times and if done with parental guidance and prudence, it should have great benefits.
Hi Vidya, I wouldn’t say just blogging – I would say children should be encouraged to write, express themselves and spend more time with activities which require self-reflection. A blog is just a great medium for all that.
Vidya,
Some very good thoughts here on the subject of kids and computers. I think children should blog if they’re interested in writing. But not to force a blog on a child who interests lie elsewhere. I’d love to see Vidur’s blogs by the way. Sounds very interesting!
xoxo
Betsy
Blogging is a very creative pursuit and as you rightly said, they start forming opinions and are also forced to think through their topics, so definitely it is a big boost if children start blogging. Having said that, it would probably be necessary for blogging for the fun of it and blogging for readership. I feel they shouldn’t be pressurized by whether or not they get a lot of readership.
Happiness for me is the contended feeling deep within me.
Hi Vidya,
I think it is a great idea to have children blog. When I was teaching, each of my students had a section of our classroom website where they posted their projects and writing. Technology is their world, so wonderful incentive to get them writing.
They should. Blogging is a great way to express oneself. Kids of today needs it.
I dont see any harm in it. A blog can be a very good medium to express oneself and it can be very useful at teen age. Parents should just have an eye over the posts. This way they will also get to know the mental state of the child.