Parenting kids & teens in an increasingly uncertain tech-dominant world
Reflections from our CEO Dr Arne Rubinstein OAM,
Australian Father of the Year 2025
As Father of the Year 2025 I need to be very clear that I don’t believe there are any perfect parents and I certainly have not been the perfect father (my two sons Jarrah and Jaden will definitely confirm that). Parenting is a journey and an ongoing learning and often humbling experience.
However, I do strongly and with all my heart believe that by focusing on bringing out the unique gifts, talents and spirit of each of our children, teaching them key life skills and building a healthy community of support for them, we can give them the best chance possible to flourish and become healthy young adults who are happy, loving, purposeful, confident, curious and most importantly comfortable in themselves.
We are parenting in interesting times though. No longer are mums and dads the font of all wisdom with aunties, uncles and wise elders nearby for support and guidance. Today, thanks largely to technology and an explosion of content, advertising and information everywhere we turn, our children are exposed to many voices of influence, helpful and otherwise.
Truth be told, so are we. As parents we have never had more information about ‘how to parent’, nor have we been under such scrutiny. The arrival of AI has guaranteed that this situation (for us and our kids) is not about to diminish anytime soon – we cannot yet imagine the full implications that AI will have on our lives. We can imagine it will be huge, it already is.
On top of this, our kids are living in a time of climate change, conflict, soaring mental health issues. They’re also witnessing some pretty incredulous behaviour from adult role models – our world leaders. And with their brains not being fully developed they are much more susceptible to persuasive messaging.
Our modern, western, individualistic culture now sees us parenting in silos, often without family or community support nearby. The economics of modern living also mean more parents are working as well as caregiving – it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and unsupported. It’s easy to get caught up in. It’s also easy to feel like we are failing our kids.
Basically, we are not operating in a very healthy ecosystem.
The way we are living in our society these days is breaking down our ecosystem. What’s this got to do with parenting? Well, a family operates in the same way. When we create the right conditions for our kids, they can thrive. And yes, sometimes things can still get out of balance but if the community surrounding our kids is healthy, and the foundations strong, then the conditions are optimal for them to flourish.
So how do we create the optimal conditions for our kids?
I have worked with families now for more than three decades – first as a general practice and emergency doctor, and then as a facilitator of Rites of Passage (ROP) camps, a passion that was ignited in the ‘90s and which still fuels me today as I approach elderhood. I have worked with literally tens of thousands of people globally both in that profession and in my role as the CEO of various organisations including The Rites of Passage Institute. I have delivered babies, worked with children, adults, the elderly and the dying. I have set up programs in schools around the country, trained leaders who have created processes for over a quarter of a million people and I have had the great honour to personally sit in thousands of circles made up of children and their parents on camps and in just about any environment you can think of.
I have learnt so much about myself as a person and as a father to two beautiful adult sons throughout all of this. So, in the interests of sharing those learnings, the ROPI team has compiled them into a free resource.
This resource offers a handful of things that I think are key to parenting in these modern times. Things that can help us to raise happy, loving, motivated, engaged, curious children and teenagers.
I hope you find them helpful, and I encourage you to try them, no matter what stage of parenting you’re at.
Take care and take risk,
Arne
Arne’s Top tips for parenting
Download Arne’s Top tips for parenting for parenting children & teens in an increasingly uncertain tech-dominant world here:
