In the present scenario, it is generally claimed that latest technology has impressive connection to people almost anywhere in the world and facilitation of unprecedented productivity offer invaluable benefits but important risk as well.

For parents, technology's most obvious impairment on family time is its enticing distraction of our attention and presence as well as its addictive traits. For these reasons, including their electromagnetic radiation, technology can be a toxic exposure if healthy technology habits are not established.

If you're reading this, then you're probably already trying to detox your house and detoxify your life to enjoy benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. However, perhaps even more important than learning how to detoxify your environment is nurturing the quality of your family time. 

Our increased dependency on technology is accompanied by unique parenting challenges: meaningful communication and strong relationships with our children. It can challenge adult relationships as well. So, read on to explore whether your family time can be improved with healthy technology habits

Family divides can happen when there is a breakdown in communication and connection among parents and children, or between adults. A breakdown in communication might involve dishonest, disrespectful, and distant (not being present) conversations, or simply having no conversation at all.

It can create innocent misunderstandings, distrust, and loneliness among family members. When a breakdown in communication continues, the problem can snowball, furthering the distance among family members.

Working parents often have an obligation to work long hours—away from home, or even at home, resulting in “latchkey kids” that come home each day and spend time without their parents present or parents' presence. During that time, it’s common for children to play video games, visit social media sites, and use their cell phones to connect with friends.

Technology, like cell phones and online gaming, allows children to constantly connect with friends, making peers—and strangers—one of their largest influencers. In these cases, some children turn to friends or strangers for advice instead of their parents.

Technology is changing at a rapid pace and in order to master the latest technology, parents must continuously spend time learning new devices, apps, social media sites, and even "languages" including what certain emojis mean (it's not always obvious). For most parents, it's impossible to keep abreast of how to keep children safe from the dangers that are associated with technology. 

People's unparalleled accessibility also makes it difficult to balance family, work, household activities, and social calendars, let alone learn the latest, ever changing technology. Therefore, mastering technology often falls by the wayside.

In addition, many parents (and adults in general) today were raised in a culture where technology was not as large a part of everyday life as it is today. There were no Smart Boards in classrooms, cell phones were novelties, and online gaming had not yet been invented. Some homes didn’t even have a computer.

The learning curve for parents and adults to learn and master technology is much steeper than it is for children who have grown up with computers, tablets, smart TVs, and cell phones at their fingertips.

In the beginning, social media sites could easily be monitored by parents. It was common for parents to “friend” their children and monitor their online communication.

Today, children are using social media platforms such as Snap Chat, where messages disappear within seconds so that parents can’t see the messages stored on their child’s phone.

Some children create separate profiles that their parents aren’t aware of: one where they connect to family and friends, and one where they only connect with friends. Other common methods children use to avoid parent monitoring are deleting text messages or apps from their phones daily.

Technology has increasingly changed our culture and family dynamics. It is now integral for education, finances, social connections, digital music, video games, television, and in an increasing number of careers ranging from manufacturing to graphic design.

The meteoric advancement of technology has brought new challenges for parents, adults, children, and families. This increase in technology can divide family members, making it more difficult for parents to connect with their children. This wedge challenges parents' ability to have face-to-face communication, influence, and instill in their children feelings of importance, trust, security, genuine connection, and love. Similar effects may be seen in adult relationships as well. 

Technology is a real threat to our most meaningful sources of happiness: quality connections with people but most especially our family.