When Should you Give your Kids their Smartphone

Facebook and Google are the new parenting. You may or may not agree with this, but this is as true as the technology itself. In this technical world, parenting can prove to be a challenging task. Those old things are still there when you had to struggle with your kids to have those green veggies, brush their teeth and go to bed on time.

Unlike the kids, parents didn’t grow up with smart gadgets such as the tablets and the smart phones. It may be difficult for them to get away with technology. Parents are coming up with difficult questions such as at what age should they expose their children to the screen time. What time they should be given their Smartphone.

Hope you won't deny that children today love screen time more than they love chocolates

Children in Britain spent more time struggling with a mobile screen than playing outdoor games. 23% of children in Britain spent time doing online activities. According to a survey in the UK, three out of four respondents said that parents are to be blamed for the condition of their kids because they spent too much time doing online activities. 42% people believed that their children told them to use this device.

What do think, are children getting benefit from this over usage of Smartphone and connected devices?

We can't repudiate the contribution of technology in our daily lives. When it comes to kids, more than half of the parents believe that mobile technology helps their child in solving their academic problems, it enhances learning skills and creativity in the child. It boosts up the energy and happiness levels. Here children are in charge of their gadgets.

This is the positive outlook and belief regarding the mobile device. Parents come up with some real problems too. More than of the British parents have argued that mobile screen affects sleep quality of their child. Parents are also getting worried regarding the deteriorated impact of these devices on energy levels, social outgoings and mental health. If children own their own devices, then this will increase at a young age.

How parents should manage better mobile usage of their children

1. Provide proper home rules and guidelines. A child learns the most from their families. Family discipline plays an important part in their development. Impose certain limits to screen time. Assess the kind of content your child is watching online. Keep on changing these rules depending upon the age, maturity and understanding of your child.


2. Tell them to engage in online activities in front of you. Setting up the right freedom is crucial. Get comfortable with them so that they don’t feel any need to hide what they are doing online. So that they can directly come to you if they feel worried about anything.


3. Encourage an open conversation regarding the use of the Internet, and about the harm, it can do to you. Tell them about cyber bullying and online crimes.


4. Tell them to think before clicking and about its aftereffects. Remind them on regular intervals not to click on unknown links and sites as it can give entry to several viruses.


5. Make a smart move; many apps right now are coming up with parenting control feature. They notify you when your child is engaged in inappropriate content. You can set limits on harmful content. Take help of the smart family security tools. Along with the kids, you can help the whole family in staying safe.


6. Tell them about the risks of sharing private info, pictures and videos online. It is like giving one’s info to those who are craving for it. It can be easily used against you.


7. We follow what we see, Set a good example in front of them. Limit your usage of the phone, and you will notice the difference yourself. Children learn by noticing things around.


8. Get some secure and robust software solutions. It will help in keeping your children safe from malicious websites and other threatening events.

Davis Johnson  is a self-professed security expert; she has been making the people aware of the security threats. Her passion is to write about Cyber security, cryptography, malware, social engineering, internet and new media. She writes for Norton security products at norton.com/setup.

Source : https://daviseducationsource.wordpress.com/2019/01/09/when-should-you-give-your-kids-their-smartphone/