Nowadays, one of the biggest mistakes in parenting is giving children unsupervised access to their phones. Some parents are too busy with their work to look after their kids, while others may not want to or know how to do it, so they just hand over a phone for the sake of peace and quiet. This is like giving a child a bomb that can destroy their social life, health, development, and even their future.

Why do I say this? The answer is simple. Children who are allowed to use phones without control are far more likely to go down the wrong path than to grow up on the right path of healthy development and good health. There are plenty of real-life examples right in our own surroundings. Especially for young children, parental control is totally necessary.

How to control?

To manage children's digital habits, there are two parts: family rules and technological control. It will be the best if both parts are under control.

Family Rules

1. Time and Place

If you allow your kids to use phones or computers, you need to set specific rules about when and for how long they can use them, and in which places they should not be used. As a parent, you will also need to obey these rules in front of your kids. For example, you should set habits like allowing one hour of use after all the homework is done, no use before bedtime, and no phone use at the dinner table. You can also enforce a consequence, such as a one-day ban on phone use if the rules are broken.

2. Doing it Together

It is better to build a habit where parents also participate together when the child is watching videos or playing games. Doing things together like this can build a closer relationship between the child and parent, and it also gives you the opportunity to intervene immediately if you notice inappropriate content.

3. Make the Choice for Them

Young children cannot decide what is right or what is wrong. Therefore, parents need to show the good things. From there, you should continue to support what interests them. For example, if they are watching YouTube, you can show them cartoons, or show videos made for children in various fields like science, technology, and art.

These are the controls that should be implemented under the family rules section.

Technology

The thing you should consider on the technological side is Parental Control. There are many available features for this. You should set limits on screen time, restrict app usage, and open a separate account for the child that the parent can control. On YouTube, there is a separate YouTube Kids app, or you can turn on Restricted Mode. For browsers, you can enable Safe Search or Strict settings.

Since this is the age of technology, children should not be completely unfamiliar with it. Guiding them toward the positive path is one of the most important responsibilities of every parent. Therefore, the advice for parents is to try using these methods, being overly permissive nor too strict.