It’s an age-old fact that kids learn the best by watching. Most of what they take away from our parenting is rarely the things we tell them, it’s the habits they watch us do over and over again. This is true of our tech habits, for better or for worse.
Here are some tech habits adults do that, if we’re honest, don’t make a lot of sense, but teens have certainly picked up on them. Not to point fingers, but instead to take a moment to laugh a little about how we can be just as susceptible to the pull of the tech world as our kids. If you relate to any of these, you’re definitely not alone.
1. Scrolling Hearing Loss
We talk about all the time how social media apps are literally designed to capture and keep our attention, and adults aren’t immune to their effects. Sometimes it takes a second (or third) “Mom!” or “Dad!” for us to finally realize someone has been trying to talk to us mid-scroll. Teens see that and learn that even parents have a hard time resisting these addictive apps.
2. The Overshare Paradox
Many parents joined social media back when it felt smaller and more private. Posting on Facebook once felt like sharing a journal entry with close friends and family. For many of us, that mindset has stuck.
So while we tell teens that the internet is risky, teens notice when adults post personal details like family drama, medical updates, and emotional moments online. Most teens probably aren’t judging, or might not even pick up the contradiction, but they’re always observing.
3. Posting Photos Without Consent
What might feel like a proud parenting moment for adults could feel very different for a teen navigating identity, peer perception, and their own online presence. Most teens spend a lot of time curating how (and if) they show up online, so they definitely notice when they get posted without their permission.
4. Multi-Tasking (Not Really)
Sometimes, we all need to steal a moment to check an email or a friend’s post, and it’s often pretty harmless. But teens will always clock it when it happens during a moment that was meant to be quality time. So even a quick scroll during family movie night might be noticed by your teen, a reminder that everyone’s attention can easily be divided when it comes to our screens.
5. Falling For AI Content
Have you ever sent your child a video you found that completely shocked you, only for them to respond saying, “That’s obviously AI”?
It happens to the best of us. AI is only getting more convincing, and sometimes, teens are more likely to catch the red flags. To be fair, if a bunch of bunnies really did jump onto someone’s backyard trampoline in the middle of the night, it’d be worth sharing!
6. Typing like it’s 2009
Teens notice that the way they text is very different from how adults text. For teens, certain characteristics of texting come across as passive-aggressive or really serious, but adults find them completely neutral. Things like using ellipses all the time… or responding to a text message with nothing but this emoji: 👍. No one is wrong here, but it’s certainly a generational difference.
7. Constantly Taking Photos Instead of Experiencing the Moment
We might tell kids not to be on their phones all the time, but adults can be just as quick to pull out their phones for pictures, especially during a special moment. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to capture memories (we know Gen Z enjoys doing the same), but teens notice when the pictures feel more staged rather than shared.
Bark as Your Digital Parenting Helping Hand
Parents are given the difficult task of managing screen time for the whole household, and you’re not alone if you find it overwhelming. That’s why Bark offers a suite of parental control products to help lighten the load.
If you’re looking for a way to manage internet access for all devices in your home, the Bark Home can do just that. We also offer the Bark app, the Bark Phone, and Bark Watch for your kids to help teach them how to use personal tech healthily when they enter the digital world. Check out our site to see which products would be the best fit for your family.
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Bark helps families manage and protect their children’s digital lives.
