7 Vital Steps to Good Digital Parenting

In this day and age, kids are pretty tech savvy compared to their parents, and it can be quite overwhelming for some!

Use these 7 vital steps and become a better digital parent…

1. Talk with your children

• Stay calm at all times
• Talk with your kids often and before they start using any digital devices
• Be open and direct

2. Educate yourself

• Search online and research anything you don’t quite understand
• Try out websites, apps, games, etc. for yourself to see what they’re all about
• Take a look at this website – www.fosi.org

3. If you can, use parental controls

• Activate the safety settings in your OS, search engine or any games
• Use the parental controls to limit their access on mobile phones, tablets and gaming consoles
• Make sure to monitor your children’s screen time

4. Set ground rules

• Draw up a contract and get them to agree and sign
• Set a certain time and place in order to limit their tech use
• Enforce ground rules when necessary

5. Friend and follow, but avoid stalking

• It is okay to become friends with your kids on social media
• Always respect their online space and don’t overdo it
• Encourage your children to keep a good, clean digital reputation

6. Explore, share and celebrate

• Do online with your kids and explore their online world with them
• Take advantage of all the new ways to communicate
• Remember to have fun and learn from your kids!

7. Be the best digital role model

• Don’t start any bad digital habits
• Know when it is time to unplug from your digital devices
• Show your kids that it’s okay to take a break from being online

Start taking these steps today and you’ll become the best digital parent you can be… At The Computer Guyz we can offer you IT support, services, sales and friendly advice! Contact us on 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgcape.co.za