Children and adolescents grow today with digital media on such course, making the age- and development-oriented media selection really complex for parents. It becomes even more difficult in the converged digital age where all can be acceded from one platform. To help parents, here are some tips they can use to manage digital media consumption of kids:
Select age appropriate equipment: Consider the experts’ recommendation which goes by saying that you should not give your child a private phone before the age of 9.
Accompaniment especially in the beginning: The handling of digital devices and the Internet must be taught. Tell your kids how they can find what they are looking for? What pages can they trust? Where can they get information from? By teaching this all, you are helping your child to learn safe handling of media. For younger children, parental controls like FamilyTime, Norton Family and Life360 can help a lot. Which makes it handy for parents to keep a check on what their kids are up to.
Privacy is important: Convey to your child that they should be careful when sharing personal information. Ask them not to publish embarrassing pictures or send any photos to others online.
Set secure mobile settings: Check the mobile phone settings and set appropriate settings such as disabling non-adult sites and chargeable value-added numbers. In order not to accidentally fall into cost traps, it is also convenient to regularly check the phone bill.
Help with negative experiences: If your kid is confronted with disturbing images or experiences such as bullying, pornography, violence, they need someone who is there for them and can possibly help them get out of it. Be that person for your kid.
Media Times: Set media times as it makes sense to combine temporal regulations. For younger children, setting an alarm or an egg timer can be a good idea. With older children and adolescents, a total weekly media time can be agreed that they can divide on their own freely. It is recommended that, 3 – 6 years old kid should not consume media for more than 30 minutes a day for 6- to 10-year-old it should not be longer than 45 minutes and for 10 to 13-year- the time should not exceed 60 minutes a day.
Set Cell-free periods: Do not let your kid use technology at certain time durations such as meal time, study hours or during the night. To set the auto screen locks, you can make use of screen time apps that make the job easy for you.