Healthy Tech Choices Begin at Home 2024
Parenting has always been a difficult task, especially when it comes to making tech choices, parenting becomes tougher. In this digital era, new developments in technology are made which surely makes life easier for you as well as kids. But you must take steps that enable you to make the right choices. Because with the growth in technology, people are spending less time together. So, you need to educate kids about healthy tech use. This will help them to grow up as a responsible digital citizen.
Have the “Tech Talk”
The first instruction for every parent out there is to have an open and honest conversation about tech choices and their digital safety. Adults can easily make a difference between the real and digital worlds. Even though your child is tech-savvy but their brain is still growing. They find it difficult to differentiate between the real and virtual worlds and get trapped easily. These are the essential points to include in the tech talk:
- Before you implement any rules, you must have the proper tech talk with the child regarding the reasons for these rules. Let the child understand what are the good ways by which they can use technology.
- You can talk about important and useful apps and seek opinions about their choices. Never mention negatives about all the apps, first support their choices with the positives and then show them the negatives.
- Introduce them to the concepts of self-regulation and ask them to decide their boundaries for device usage. You have to explain to them the importance of managing screen time and at the same time let them understand the risks in the digital world.
- The conversation will depend on the age and maturity of the child. That’s why you must continue tech talks over a regular interval. Over time, the priorities of the child may change.
Establish Age-Appropriate Activities
There is not a single formula of parenting for all but when it is about tech choices then there are some general guidelines that each parent must follow as per the child of the age. Each child has different maturity levels and needs so before you implement healthy tech choices, you can customize the approach according to the requirement of your child. Here is the list of age-appropriate activities guidelines:
- For the children aged between 2 and 5, who start to enter grade school the guidelines will be little murky. This is the age when you can find a big jump in the screen time but still, that can be controlled easily as kids are still small to listen to you.
- When it is about children of 8 to 12 years old, then spend more than 4 hours on their screen which is a great leap. You have to make them understand which activities are required and what not.
- Teenagers are naturally independent and then begin to grow more curious. At this age, they easily get influenced by peers so it is important that you guide their journey towards responsible technology use.
Set Boundaries for Device Use
With the help of some technical tools, you can easily set limits for the usage of certain apps, but it is highly recommended that you involve the child’s decision. You may talk together about healthy tech choices and the necessity of implementing appropriate limits. When it is about parenting then it’s no good to limit the kid’s tech use, when you have never followed the restrictions for the device use. Here are some of the restrictions on using the device that you can implement:
- Rather than a straight way imposing restrictions, the more effective strategy is to frame a common rule for all. You must start with some specific times and places where the family is allowed to use the screen preferably at mealtimes.
- There must be a set of rules for certain activities that you can do together without the involvement of games and reading books. It is better to leave the device at home if you are traveling for a short distance so that you don’t get distracted by screens.
- All sorts of screens must be kept out of the bedroom. Whenever you or your child goes to sleep, make sure to keep away devices. This is a simple way by which you can incorporate healthy screen habits in children.
Use A Spy App
Once you establish the boundaries for the screen use, you have to keep a check that the rules are followed without a failure. This can be done using a spy app, like iKeyMonitor. It will enable you to check the screen time that the child follows and thereafter regulate it accordingly. When the app is installed on the devices then you can access the devices remotely. There are options by which you can block certain apps and websites. Besides that, you can set the screen time limit, due to which the child will not be able to use the devices at specific times. These are some features of this spy app which helps in making better tech choices:
- You have the option to block certain apps, and games that you find inappropriate for your child. Check for the contacts and block that tend to message the child and you find it suspicious.
- Further, you can monitor chat messages and ensure that your child is safe. If you find that child exceeds the given time. You can log in through your device and have access to all the data of the targeted device.
- Once you install the spy app, you can easily track the GPS locations of the target device and find your child. Besides that, you can also view all the social account activities discreetly and find out about your child’s posts.
As the spy app functions in a complete automatic mode. So, you can secretly keep an eye on your child. Parent’s priority is always that the child makes better tech choices. Having continuous talk regarding the choices and a bit of regulation enables you to accomplish the purpose.
Tags: implement healthy tech choices, tech choices, tech talk
Category: Learning & How to, Parental Control Tips
