abroad so she gave her daughter riya her old phone and a sim card with strict instructions to use it only to call her says reena soon enough riya figured out that she can access the internet and began sending mobile chat messages to her friends now her nineyearold friend neha too has been pestering her mother for a smartphone so that the two girls can chat with each other even though they live in the same apartment complex and attend the same school that said there are a few who claim that children these days are better equipped than the previous generations at handling peer pressure filmmaker indrajit lankesh father of two boys aged 14 and 9 says kids these days are smarter than what we were at their age theyre very well aware of the illeffects of various vices and are capable of taking mature decisions they are able to show a lot more individuality simply because theres lesser pressure on them than the one we faced from our parents being more of a friend than a parent seems to be the best way to go about dealing with todays parental challenges some names changed to protect identity expert speak experts say that owing to technology children these days are alien to the joy of discovering the adolescent brain is modelled in such a way that it is more receptive to learning by experience rather than just reading about it on the internet which happens with most kids these days exposure to technology should be monitored carefully as always moderation is key says sulata shenoy a child psychologist how to deal with techsavvy kids 1 spend a lot of family time which can include frequent dinners and weekend holidays 2 involve kids in handson activities that will help them appreciate the joy of discovering things on their own 3 reassess the speed at which our lives are headed and consciously slow it down once in a while