Managing a child’s technology is a huge challenge for 21st-century parents. Children are the world’s most insecure, curious, and innocent beings. As parents, we have to ensure that they would not overuse technology and maintain a healthy balance between outdoor activities and screen time. Parenting sure has been difficult in this digital age.
On the one hand, parents are worried that inappropriate use of technology would hurt their children’s growth. On the other hand, they are concerned that their child will lose out on the advantages of good technology use. For instance, gaining new knowledge through online learning or a quest for information might be beneficial.
Sure, you might be worried about some stuff. You could better understand your children’s smartphone habits by properly disciplining and tracking their tech usage. As a result, you will restrict children’s use of cellphone, monitors, and PlayStation.
How To Build A Digital Parenting Balance In this Age:
Parents can keep their children away from smartphones and other technologies until they start to go to school. When children start their education steps, you have no other option rather than to introduce them to electronic gadgets. Slowly, children may get addicted to mobile phones and over-addiction leading to problems like cybersickness.
Keeping children away from devices might be impossible, but you can balance or overcome the use of mobile phones for your children not by snatching or setting bad rules for teens, but by making them understand that it is not good to overuse devices. Here are some points that might help every parent strike a balance in the digital parenting state:
Introduce Learning Apps To Your Children:
Install some fun and interactive games, such as quizzes and crossword puzzles, on your children’s smartphones before handing them over. You can also have family game nights and enjoy such games with your children. It results in a lot of fun and, surprisingly, more bonding time.
To develop your children’s analytical mind, memory, and better concentration, you can also download games like “find the differences” puzzles or even Subway Surfers and Angry birds! Add drawing or coloring apps to your kids’ smartphones to help them express themselves.
It will help if you do not forget to keep an eye on the ads that pop up inside the apps you download. Some applications may contain inappropriate or spam advertisements, which you should check before giving your children mobile phones.
Maintain Device Usage Criteria:
Sit your child down and define a set of basic rules and boundaries before handing over the mobile devices. Ascertain that they are aware of the restrictions imposed on them and can bind to them. Children under the age of 2 should have no or very limited screen time, such as video messaging with family and watching other videos.
Children aged two or five have no more than one hour per day of relatively low children’s entertaining shows. Of course, such restrictions are focused on school-aged children’s academic needs, as certain schools continue to introduce higher levels of screen learning (e-learning) to prepare students for the digital future.
At home, build technology-free zones and schedules. For example, no electronic devices are permitted during mealtimes, bedtimes, study times, or family gatherings. Electronic devices are not even permitted in the restroom. Hence, this allows for healthier habits and helps young children stick to a schedule set by you.
Set An Excellent Example:
If we are bothered by the morning news or business emails, how do we expect our children to put away their devices at breakfast or mealtime happily? Limit your own screen time to set a good example for your kids. Please do not ignore your children while they are communicating with you.
Hanging more on your work and entertainment, do not forget that your priority is only your child. Sometimes, you can keep your devices aside and play with your kids, help them with studies, teach about projects, magic, and other arts. Spend more time with your children to make them feel special. It may be difficult to be a modern parent at times.
Do not scream or scold them, children, if you are doing important work. Instead, persuade them tenderly and politely. Teach your children that digital devices should only be used when necessary. Using them all the time leads to various negative effects on the mind, body, and relationships.
Use Parental Control Applications:
Being a parent, keeping track of which applications your children are downloading is very important. Recognize the types of smartphone apps your kids use and how much time they spend on a regular schedule. Do your kids spend too much time taking part in video games, watching videos, using social media, or engaging in video or text chats?
You can disable in-app purchases and prevent installing apps that are classified higher than your child’s age and what you consider acceptable. Fenced.ai, Quostodio, KidsLogger are some parental control software you can install to monitor your kids’ devices if necessary you can block pornography on your child’s device.
Blocking inappropriate content, managing search history, monitoring social media activities and phone activities, and parents could do many other features through such apps. By doing this, you can establish clean internet surfing habits in your kids. Both the parents and kids could stay away from negative sides of digital life such as cyberbullying, hacking, robbery, and more.
Locate Your Computer Wisely:
When you reach your child’s room, I suggest placing the monitor so that the screen is clear to you. Please place it in the sitting room instead, where you can see it when your child is using it. It would be best to retain an eye on your kids when they are playing or working on a school assignment in this manner.
Since your child won’t be able to suppress what is on the screen, they will be less likely to perform inappropriate searches, leading to trustworthy relationships among children and parents. Children could not hide anything from you. It makes children more disciplined, honest and develops good moral habits.
You can also suggest them if you feel they are confused on some matters. The more the children are exposed to their parents, the better person they will become. For kids’ personal development, parents should keep an eye on them but do not be overprotective. Give them their personal space sometimes.
Purchase Video Games For Your Children And Yourself:
If you are a teenager’s parent, you are probably familiar with God of War and Grand Theft Auto (GTA), which were popular games among kids a few years ago. Any other kid we met was playing it, and parents were naturally annoyed. Anyone can find abuse, inappropriate language, and even violence in these games.
Such content is not a problem for adults, but it can be troublesome for children who are not psychologically or emotionally capable of distinguishing between fact and fiction. Parents can take several approaches. First, it may be best to prohibit such games because they are not age-appropriate for each child.
I suggest that you buy your children’s games online and offline to protect them from harmful video games. If your child is older, sit him down and discuss the game’s essence before deciding whether or not it is appropriate for them.
Restriction On Game Time:
Limits must be set in advance, much as with mobile device use. Set a limit on how much time your child will spend on his computer or video game consoles, and stick to it. Please encourage them to take breaks from their screens on occasion to allow their eyes to relax.
Most of the kids are more addicted to games. News of murder, suicide, and other violence in children is common nowadays because of video games and being victims in digital life. To prevent your kids from such negative actions, be aware of your kids’ screen timing.
As mentioned above, you can also use parental control apps to control your kids’ screen timing. Warn or try to improve your kids’ habits firstly; if that does not work, add such apps for better results.
Take Breaks:
“A break?” you may ask. How does that feel?” I understand. Parents are still on the move. Working yourself very hard, on the other hand, is undesirable. You will be tired if you complete an assignment in four hours without stopping. In this case, the quality of your work would most likely be poor.
Take a walk or drive or do something with your kids during your lunch break. Take a break from your work to refuel your batteries. Breaks can seem to be a waste of time, but they allow your brain to relax, allowing you to return to the office more efficiently and inspired.
Parenthood is the toughest job, but it will double your duties and responsibilities if you are a working person. So, it would always be preferable to spend time with yourself and your family. Time is, indeed, an essential gift you could ever give your family.
Make Them Realize Books Are Their Best Friends:
Books are the most effective way to boost your child’s IQ while reducing the timespan they spend in front of computer screens, mobile phones, or other gadgets. Reading to children and discussing the subjects you read takes them away from electronics and computers for a longer period.
Allow your children to choose books, and there will always be something new to learn from everything they read. To enhance reading habits, practice reading books so that your kids imitate your good habit. You could spend most of your time with books rather than mobile phones.
Offer your children fascinating books, enjoyable stationery, and other interesting materials to inspire them to learn more. You could also set a different room for studying. Decorate the room with interesting and favorable kinds of stuff so that your children would love to spend time in the study room.
Get Your Kids To Play 90’s Games With You:
The 1990s were a wonderful decade to be born in! We had the most pleasant outdoor games to play. Why not play them with your children? Introduce your child to games such as Kho-Kho, Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Kick the Can, Badminton, Seven Stones, Dog and the Bone, Four corners, and others that you enjoyed as a kid.
We are certain that these addictive and entertaining games can help them forget about their phones! Manage your time and do play with them. Tell them about your old days’ stories. Please encourage them to be independent of their phones. Instead, engage them in learning activities like singing, dancing, gymnastics, karate, arts, and other creative kinds of stuff.
Live your childhood through your children over again. You have to spend quality time with your children and build a balance in your relationships. You can teach them kindness, politeness, and good moral characters during game time and other times. After all, peace is what everyone seeks.
Protecting From The Hazards Of Social Media:
Continuous social media exposure can lead to self-obsession and competition with others. When they do not get a certain amount of likes or shares on their posts, they mark themselves as “unpopular.” A child who is unprepared to deal with all of this will experience depression.
Kids are bullied, and mostly they are the victim of social media. To protect them from unknown dangers, follow the following measures:
- Make friends with your kids on all of their social media accounts. This way, you will be aware of all of their Facebook, Instagram, and other social media activities.
- Enable your kids to join you in scrolling through your social media posts. It will give them faith in you when it comes to posting on social media, as well as a sense of what they should be scrolling through their feeds.
- Teach your children to block and report someone who is aggressive or behaving oddly, such as strangers who ask for personal pictures or contact details.
- Advise your children to be selective about who they add as friends and followers. Tell your children to only add and communicate with people they meet in real life online.
Conclusion:
Nothing beats running outside and participating in some enjoyable games with our children in today’s world. However, incorporating a small amount of technology into their everyday lives is the best way to improve learning and play!
Being a parent, we all wish the best for our children, but it isn’t easy to be with them at all times. So while applying parenting practices in this digital age, we should do every best possible way to build a good relationship with them either in digital or real life.
