5 ways you can get your kids' digital use under control

Don’t be someone who sees their child’s face – or rather doesn’t see it – hidden behind a small rectangular screen. The smartphone or tablet is their constant companion and they’re often much more engaged with it then they are with their friends or family.

Now is your moment to take control and there’s no better time to start than now.

Let us at The Computer Guyz offer a few pieces of advice that can help you.

Set ground rules

When someone gets the keys to their first car, they can go wherever they want to go, but they do have to follow the rules of the road. They can’t drive on sidewalks or on the wrong side of the road. Also, they have to get out of the car on occasion.

When you hand a child an iPhone or iPad, there seem to be no rules.

Obviously, not everyone is like that. There are parental controls on iPhones and iPads (under Restrictions) and user accounts on Android devices. However, how many people bother to set them up?

First of all, I’m pretty sure it’s a bad idea to hand an infant or toddler your phone just to shut them up and keep them busy.

Since it’s impossible to set ground rules with a toddler for whom logic is an utterly foreign concept, try keeping track of how often you hand them your iPhone or iPad and for how long they have it. Try keeping it to 30 minutes a day, at most.

If you’re actually giving a child a smartphone and they’re old enough to understand what consequences mean, I suggest writing up a contract that you can both sign about Where, When and for How Long they can use their digital device. A breach of that contract means they lose the phone.

Give and take

You can also create a barter system for screen time. If your child wants to spend an hour or more with their device, ask them to spend the same amount of time, reading a book or engaging in an outdoor activity. And by ask, I mean tell. Kids rarely respond to “Would you mind…?”

You can also tie it to chores and homework. Nothing ensures homework will get done like telling a child they cannot go on their phone until you verify it’s done (trust, but verify). If they want more screen time than their originally allotted amount, have them do extra chores, a special project or even volunteer work (preferably with you by their side).

Set the time and place

One way to help break the smartphone and gadget habit is by creating safe zones and times for use. Put a small basket by the front door and have everyone in the family drop their devices in the basket when they walk through the door. Make the proposition more attractive for everyone by picking up a multiport USB charging device and snaking the charging cables into the basket. This way everyone can always be charging.

Ban all cell phones from the dinner table – yes, parents, yours too. In fact, the more parents set an example on where and when to use smartphones, the more kids will fall into line. Otherwise, you’ll have that argument, “Why should I stop using my phone when you’re on yours ALL THE TIME?” (Also known as the “I learned it from you, alright?!” argument.) Speaking of which, if you are texting and driving, you're also setting the worst example of them all!

Reconnect

Many families will be attempting the time-honoured tradition of a summertime road trip. Cries of “Are we there yet?” may have quieted some thanks to ever-presence of screens and access to data.

Before you get in the car, make a plan. Decide how much time will be spent streaming each family member’s music to the car audio. Then agree on how much time will be spent staring at screens (10 minutes an hour? 15 mins?). You could also decide on one audio book to listen to and pass the time. 

And set aside some time to play a family game that requires that the kids pay attention to what’s going on outside the car. A family favourite is “I spy with my little eye” which someone has to say a letter and everyone has to guess what object they’re looking at.

Shut it down

When it’s the weekend or school holidays, this means the kids are done with school and, naturally, staying up later. They’re also taking their phones with them to bed. You do it too, I know, and for a pretty good reason: It’s your alarm clock. The problem is, it’s also your information hose, one that never shuts off. For kids, that late-night screen time is a huge problem. It never shuts down, so neither do they. Eventually they fall asleep, usually with the phone trapped under their bodies.

Kids under 13 do not need the phone by their bedside. A good-old-fashioned alarm clock will do. At bedtime, the phone stays in that basket by the front door.

Get real

Most of us are big fans of technology, that’s just how the future is turning out and you probably break virtually every one of these rules, right? However, can do things different. You can teach your children that the smartphone and tablet represent a just single source of content and entertainment. There is the whole wide world outside of it and the family right in front of them.

I know I am asking a lot. Our lives revolve around these devices. How can anyone expect us to put them down during dinner and bedtime? What if we miss something? Clearly, as adults, there’s good reason for you to use your digital devices more than your kids, but maybe not a lot more. It’s up to us to give our children perspective!