When I was a younger man there were a thousand things I thought were vitally important, from journalism to politics, from history to rock ‘n’ roll. But the moment I became a parent I instantly realised there was simply nothing in the world more important than that.And I instantly realised I had no idea what I was doing.Today, with a 13-year-old about to complete his first year of high school, two girls in primary school, and a three-year-old niece for whom I’m an honorary dad, I still don’t.Ask most parents — at least, if you ask me, the best ones — and they’ll tell you the same. We’re all just muddling along, trying to do juggle countless conflicts, dilemmas, tantrums and traumas and hoping we make the right calls or find the right words when it matters the most.And this is what makes the Let Them Be Kids campaign, the world-leading social media ban that it produced, and our new Beyond Social Media series so literally vital.Watch Episode 1 of our Unpacked: Beyond Social Media series above.For more on our new series go to www.beyondsocialmedia.com.auVital because it will save lives that might have been lost to the scourge of online bullying, and vital because it breathes new energy into the lives of our children, the most precious things on this planet. The real world that they are already reconnecting with.It’s not perfect, because none of us are. Because life isn’t.But it’s an incredible step towards a better place, and an incredible tool to help parents like me navigate the labyrinthine quagmire of new technology.And in an uncanny sign of divine providence, as I sat down to write these very words two incredible things happened.The first was in fact utterly predictable. My youngest daughter rushed in and — seizing my moment of distraction — stole my phone.I was about to use this as a comforting fable of fallibility when a text popped up on my computer from my eldest: He’d just hit the 800,000 word mark in his Year 7 reading challenge. “Nearly one million word man,” he said.My soul was flooded with pride. And there it is in all its messy glory: The misses and the miracles that make being a dad or a mum the most exhilarating, terrifying and heart-filling job in the world.And that is why I am so humbled and proud to help deliver these heartbreaking and hopeful stories. Parents who have lost everything and gained everything, all for the sake of our children.Because they are everything.
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