by Jessica Runberg

Journalist Jessica Runberg interviewed Jennifer Miller of Confident Parents, Confident Kids on the role of the internet in parenting. “Should we listen to the advice on social media? How do we not feel overwhelmed by conflicting opinions? Who should we listen to?” were some of her important questions. Check out the article in today’s The Washington Post in the “On Parenting” section.

It begins…

Babies don’t come with instruction manuals, yet countless people assured me that I’d know exactly what to do when I became a parent. They were mostly right; my parenthood badge unlocked an internal compass.

But there’s also been a lot of Googling, group texts, calls to my mom and panicked posts in my neighborhood moms’ Facebook group when I couldn’t get my toddler to stay in her crib or wondered which swim school was best.

The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” takes on new meaning for millennial parents who turn to their peers online for counsel, as well as influence others’ parenting choices through this solicited advice. When your village is the Internet, that’s a lot of (often conflicting) advice, and that makes me wonder: Is crowdsourced parenting eroding our parental confidence?

And later…

“The inner should always inform the perception of the outer. In other words, have we deeply reflected on our core values? That’s something that comes from within. I think we always need to use that litmus test when looking outward for information,” says Miller, adding that looking outward is not inherently a problem.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/10/21/crowdsourced-parenting-advice/

Thank you, Jessica Runberg for selecting a topic that impacts all if not most parents now, for your accuracy and careful research and for the opportunity to contribute.