With technological development, smartphones and tablets have become electronic babysitters along with television. You will find children using these devices in hospitals, restaurants, buses, cars, and even the playground.
Even it may not be the actual addiction but it seems to be the case. Parents need to take care of two aspects of the use of these tech devices by their children. One is how much time the children are spending on the screens and the second is what they do while on screen.
To help you to get your children off the screen to do their homework, play at the ground and spend some family time, here are our 6 tips to keep a check on your kids’ tech use.
1. Set Limits and Stick to Them:
You need to make sure that there is a time limit for your children to spend time on these tech devices. Custom dissertation writing services said that with the timeline you need to keep a strict check to follow those limits.
According to WHO (World Health Organizations), one year children should have no screen time that includes TV and the use of smartphones and tablets. For children age 2-4 years old screen time is recommended to be less than an hour.
2. Talk to Your Kids:
Parental controls are helpful to keep a check on your children while they use the smartphone and tablets. But relying on them only is not the right approach. Kids of today are smart and easily evade those controls.
As a parent, you need to talk to your children about these controls and why they are important. Developing a safe online behavior is only possible through talk.
3. Be a Role Model:
Asking your children to use technology responsibly is necessary. But saying only and not doing the same will be of no help. As kids learn by watching what you do so you need to do the same that you expect from your children.
4. A Family Media Plan:
A family media plan helps you to monitor and control online activities on your device and accounts. It is better to set a screen-free time and areas in your home. You can also use Apple’s Screen Time and Android’s Digital Wellbeing programs to set an app limit time on your devices.
5. No Tech Device in Bedroom:
To avoid tech-specific devices an hour before sleep is an important thing for a night of better sleep. Make sure to follow the rule for both yourself and your children. Also, make sure that kids should not take these devices in their room. Keeping your bedroom free of these devices is important.
6. Get Outside Help:
Negatives effects of excessive use of the smartphone and tablets are relationship problems, bad behavior, and poor performance in study. The underlying issues of all these symptoms can be more serious such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, etc.
If you see any of such symptoms in your child, immediately seek help from a professional and experienced consultant.