We all need some advice from time to time. Here are some simple parenting tips for computer usage with your children at home.
- Turn off the computer at night for at least one hour
- Recognize that people are often using technology to fill a relational void
- Anticipate that as new sites are created that they will gravitate towards the risqué and lewd
- Be aware that computer habits that form early often become behaviors that challenge parents as your children grow older
- Limit computer, iPad and tablet usage to a central location and the amount of time they are spending on those devices
- Install web filtering/tracking services on each computer
- Learn how to interact online and use technology as another way to communicate with your child
- Set boundaries and enforce those standards by monitoring what they are doing
- Do not allow your children to share their passwords with friends and make sure you know all of your children’s passwords
- Check up on their online history and communication. If history and/or cookies are deleted, then discover why
- Inform your children about the real life examples of predators on the web
Be wise about what they may think constitutes “their privacy” and your responsibility as a parent to protect, nurture, admonish, and guide them. You don’t protect them by not checking up on them. Every parent believes that their child won’t do these things yet the vast percentage of teenagers are interacting socially and virtually in ways that their parents are unaware.
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