My name is Josh Borska, I’m 41 years old as of writing this, and I’m a husband and father of two children, ages 10 and 6. Like most people, my life revolves around my family, and the words “husband” and “father” are sacred to me. They encompass almost the entirety of how I define myself.
Lately however, I think I’ve dropped the ball, so to speak. If I’m being honest about the average evening in my house, I have to admit that my kids spend too much time staring at their screens. Mindless Youtube videos, my daughter on her iPhone and my son on his iPad, the MetaQuest VR headset, and the Nintendo Switch, it’s too much. Let’s just say that I’ve been missing the mark when it comes to monitoring and curating their online experiences. Why haven’t I done more? I think I may have just felt overwhelmed, maybe even a little intimidated at the sheer scope of this task. My intuition tells me it’s an enormous task, but no less important than it is difficult. There are so many threats, so many ways that the digital world can reach into my home and affect my children, both subtley and profoundly.
I’ve tried to address the concerns that I’ve had in ad hoc ways. A better router here, screen time limits there, but that doesn’t really work for me. There’s no organization to doing it this way, no method, no strategy. The problem is that I don’t have a comprehensive knowledge of the host of threats in the digital landscape, so I never feel secure that any of the measures I’ve taken won’t be defeated by something that I may have, or even probably, missed.
So, I’ve started this blog for selfish reasons. Selfish, in that this blog is my project with the goal of cataloging this digital landscape, with all of its threats, as well as benefits, and all of the measures parents can take to keep it from harming their children.
The reason I’ve created a blog and not something more private is accountability. “What is he talking about?” you ask. Well, if I just start putting together notes on my computer, I’ll begin enthusiastically, and try hard for a while, but I’ll eventually taper off as life gets in the way. My efforts will become more and more disorganized and as the task of cleaning it up gets more daunting, I’ll eventually give up. I know myself and this will happen. However, if I create a resource for other parents, and real people begin to rely on me for something this important, I’ll never want to stop. How could I ever stop doing something with so much purpose behind it?
Now, if no one else visits or reads anything I post, and I end up talking to myself, well then at least I’ll have gained the wisdom I’ve lacked up to this point. Right this moment, I’m certainly not the expert I wish to be with this subject matter. But, for the sake of my own children, I do intend to become one.