Children growing in the internet age cannot be separated from their gadgets. The internet and gadgets are a part and parcel of their lives along with ours. Online content, especially video streaming, has become an addiction for everyone.
Children get used to watching videos at an age as less as 2! Yes, 2. And parents are somewhat responsible for this user behaviour in children. We will tell you how.
Ever since phones have become smarter, parents have made its use to the fullest even when it comes to comforting their crying child. Instead of telling stories or singing lullabies, parents play them in the form of a video or song and handover their phone to their children to watch or listen to keep them calm. Isn’t it?
This is one of the major reasons that children get used to using mobile phones or other gadgets at a very young age.
These habits starting at a very young age can turn into an addiction growing up. Some of the things which can happen in this tech savvy world with children are-
- Children can get addicted to mobile phones and won’t be able to go even a second without it.
- They start depending on their mobiles and gadgets from the moment they wake up to the time they sleep.
- Children eventually get accustomed to using various features of the phone and social media as well.
- They might even start living in the virtual world more and forget reality.
- Children may even develop various mental health issues from phone, internet or social media addictions.
- Children also tend to lack interpersonal skills from being too much on their phones.
To read more about the effects of social media on children, visit
https://kiddoware.com/effects-of-social-media-on-children/
Therefore, monitoring your child’s internet behaviour is very necessary at a young age.
For children aging 3-6, here are some tips you could use and follow:
- Don’t let them use the gadgets on their own.
- Time limit shouldn’t exceed more than 30mins-1 hour.
- Filter the content while streaming.
Using gadgets under proper guidance-
Children at the age from 3-6 should be given mobiles or tablets or tablets only when there is a parent or elder around. They shouldn’t be allowed to use mobiles on their own. Some of the things which could happen when kids use mobiles unguided are
Accidently opening inappropriate tabs.
Calling/texting by mistake to anyone.
These incidents sound hilarious to listen to, but they eventually lead your child on a different path if not taken control.
Limiting screen time-
The screen time limit for children of the age 3-6 should not exceed more than one hour or thirty minutes. Apart from school schedules which have gone online since the pandemic, children should be given only an hour of mobile time. This too should be done only under authorized guidance. More time limit than an hour should be avoided as children may start getting habituated to these online platforms or content they watch.
Content Filtering-
Filtering content while letting your child use your phones is very important. Your children are too young to understand everything they see online. The content may not have to be only adult, it can be about an app which is not child friendly or about a video which should not be shown to underaged kids.
Turning your notifications off for certain apps when your child uses your mobile could be one way of content filtering.
Children between the age of 7-12 have much more knowledge about the internet than toddlers. They know how to use these gadgets and search for the content online too. So monitoring kids of this age can be a bit more advanced than handling toddlers.
For the parents of children between the age of 7-13 some of the things you could do are-
- Time Limit of not more than 2 hours apart from homework.
- Privacy should be enabled for age restricted apps
- Age wise content filtering
Extended Time Limit-
Children of the age from 7-12 should be allowed an ease with online time. Other than homework children should be given a maximum of 2 hours to have their safe internet time. Kids should not be allowed more than the given time as it may eventually lead to addiction in the longer run.
Privacy settings-
Children should be handed the gadgets taking care of the privacy controls. Parents handing over mobiles to their children should enable privacy for certain apps and features of the phones so that children don’t get distracted or watch and access age inappropriate content.
Age wise content filtration-
As we mentioned above, content filtration is very important when it comes to technology and the internet. Parents should take care of the content filtration online or on certain apps when they hand over mobile phones to their young children.
Children above the age of 13 have access to most social media platforms and even youtube enables a lot of content for this age and above. To handle healthy use for children above 13, parents need to be very careful and also fragile. Children above 13 are in the teens and pre teen stages before they fully mature to understand the internet world. Thus their state of mind should be considered before giving them certain instructions.
- Parents should set social media time and use
- Children should be given screen time activity schedule
- Which apps are healthy to use should be mutually decided
Social Media access-
Children above the age of 13 are allowed to access social media platforms like instagram or facebook. These apps being catchy and engaging, children tend to get involved in them alot and get engrossed in the digital world.
Thus, a social media calendar to keep your children in track of using these apps is utmost important.
Screen Time activity Schedule-
We know we are stressing too much on the screen time activity. But this point is extremely important no matter how old your child is or until the time they understand how to use these apps. In this case, children should be given a schedule to limit their screen time apart from work by mutually discussing with them, instead of ordering them to do so.
Mutual decision of installing application-
Children love being active on so many platforms. But as parents you know which platforms are good and which are not very healthy. Instead of instructing them by telling them what to do and what not to do, you can talk with them and make them understand your point of view. As children above 13 have a different mindset, controlling them wouldn’t be an appropriate choice.
Apart from these given small tips, talking with them about the pros and cons of the internet and teaching them how to use it always makes you good at parenting. Talking to them about social media and its proper use, would be more helpful than just controlling them.
Along with this, you can use this very technology to control your child’s internet behaviour! To know how read https://kiddoware.com/how-to-implement-smart-parenting-the-digital-way-in-just-5-ways/
Not just this, but the best way to keep your children in line is to use parental control apps. These apps enable browser tracking activities of your children along with keeping them away from unfiltered content. They also help you limit screen time and enable safe video filtering content as well.
These parental control apps make parenting less complicated and help you keep your child internet-safe!
We hope these tips can help you monitor your child’s internet behaviour from a young age. Happy safe surfing! 🙂