Smartphones, laptops, tablets. Oh my! Digital devices are everywhere! On average adults spend 6 hours and 43 minutes a day in front of a screen.
If adults spend that much time on digital devices, how much time do kids spend on their devices?
When my youngest daughter was in grade school, I attended a presentation, “Parenting the Digital Child.” Topics included:
• Children and cell phones;
• Texting and chat services;
• Privacy issues;
• Social networking; and
• Cyber bullying.
While digital devices can do some pretty remarkable things and are here to stay, there are some downsides. Here are those “10 Tips for Parenting the Digital Child.” These tips were collected by Tim Shininger, LCSW, LMFT. Tim is a clinic director/owner of Comprehensive Counseling Services .
1. Be good role models for using digital devices.
2. Establish and clarify family rules about devices as early as possible in your child’s life. Changing or tightening the rules is more difficult later in your child’s life.
3. Maintain an open and ongoing dialogue with your children about the internet, social networking, the dangers of cyber-bullying, and the addictiveness of online pornography.
• Cyber-bullying: Stress how important it is for your children to come to you if they’re bullied or treated disrespectfully online.
• Teach your children healthy sexuality and stress the importance – especially for your sons – of avoiding online pornography.
4. Limit screen time – TV, cell phone, computer, iPad, etc.
5. Place home computers in common areas like living rooms and family rooms.
6. Delay your child’s access to social networking sites and Smartphones until middle school or high school. If you want your under-age-12 child to have a cell phone for emergencies, consider a basic cell phone and shut off internet access with parent controls.
7. Enable parental controls on all devices (i.e., computers, Smartphones). For children 12 and under, consider shutting off internet access on handheld devices. For teens 13 and older, consider using internet blocking/filtering software.
8. Monitor screen time, including email and texts. Randomly reviews apps and internet sites on their Smartphones/iPads/laptops. Establish clear guidelines about your teen having access to and using social networking sites such as Facebook.
9. If problems occur for teens, consider using an accountability service to monitor internet use on computers and smartphones.
10. Know your children’s friends and their parents, and know what they’re doing when they’re at their friends’ homes. Common exposure to online pornographic images is likely to occur at a peer’s home.
Do you have any tips or information you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them; please share them in the box below.
Source:
https://nypost.com/2018/08/13/americans-spend-half-their-lives-in-front-of-screens/
