Kids these days. It’s like they were born with an iPad in their hand. While it can be difficult to pry a preschooler away from the cartoons on their device, growing up enmeshed with technology is also a major boost for children in understanding both the world around them, as well as the world of technology.
This does not mean to say that moderation isn’t important. At the end of the day, even with adults, mindful time management for hobbies is essential. For example, online gambling offers a great platform for those who are age appropriate to unwind. However, no matter how attractive those free spins no deposit bonus codes are, knowing when to stop is important. Plus, you’re setting the stage for how your children should utilize their free time. Just because gaming can provide a good outlet for kids to explore their skills, on an intellectual and eventually academic level, it doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be balance.
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Tech from day one
These days, children cannot escape tech. Unless a child is born into a family that has “low device use” policies or does not own tech products due to financial, ethical, or social reasons, it will be exposed to technology right from the day they are born. Posting on social media about newborns is almost as much of a rite of passage for a child as a baby’s first steps.
While many parents seek to minimize certain activities in front of children, such as swearing and smoking, for the parent that is always on their phone or laptop themselves, this can be difficult to keep out of view of a child.
Instead, many children have access to apps, games, and communications platforms as soon as they can talk, if not before. After all, there is unlimited learning that can be accomplished if you choose the right materials to access online.
Gaming has made children tech-savvy
Computer games have come a long way since the arcade games of the 1980s! Now games come from basic all the way through to hyper-realistic, in every genre you could possibly think of. There’s gaming to boost the brain, gaming to learn about history, gaming to develop your reflexes, and much more. By growing up with this huge range of games, children have the chance to explore the realms of what’s possible, growing their skills and their tech prowess.
But you can’t watch your children all the time
Of course, after time passes, you realize that you can’t keep an eye on your children all the time to watch what they are up to, on devices or off devices, and nor would you want to! This can be scary, in that you want to make sure they are only engaging in good behaviors when you’re not watching them.
But being able to experiment on their own is also highly beneficial for children’s growth. Your concern should instead be putting into place the right controls so that they can experiment within the bounds of what is deemed acceptable for their ages. This includes things like restricting access to particular types of games and content.
Digital parenting: How to do it right
Your kids are smart, sometimes too smart, and sometimes smarter than you, particularly when it comes to technology! That’s why it’s important to do digital parenting right. Here, we provide some pointers that will help you outsmart your kids and keep them safe on their devices.
Give them their own device
This may seem counterintuitive to be able to keep your kids in line as a digital parent, however, it’s the most move to help stop you from making silly tech mistakes. By having their own dedicated device, there is no chance that they’ll accidentally get into your account or work emails, or access content on the wider web they shouldn’t. With a child’s own device, you have full control of the games and apps downloaded, so you know what’s available, and you can lock the device out of downloading new apps.
Put in parental controls
There are parental controls available for a wide range of apps and web apps including browsers, YouTube, various games, and more. Check each app on your child’s device to ensure that parental controls are set to the right level and can’t be reconfigured by them on the device.
Always check the rating
Games come along with suggested age ranges, and it makes sense to stick to them. While you may feel pressure from your child because “all the other kids at school have it!” you can minimize their exposure to certain types of games in your own home by choosing not to purchase them.