How to Help Kids Maintain The Digital Wellbeing
- Parenting
- 12 October 2021
One day, I’ve got a new smartphone from my husband, and as usual, I use it at night when I want to go to sleep. I suddenly realized that there is something different on the screen, it is monochrome black and white! Woo… What is this? Does my phone get broken? Where are the colors?
After browsing and look more deeply at my smartphone, I found out that the black and white color is the effect of the Digital Wellbeing apps that are installed in my smartphone. What is digital wellbeing and what aspects surround it?
Briefly, digital wellbeing is a well-being condition that we feel when we use digital gadgets, whether it is smartphones, tablets, PC, or laptops. In detail, it is about: password safety, security from cyberbullying, duration spent accessing digital, sitting position, light emitted from the screen, interaction with other people on social media, and all aspects that exist during digital access. Digital wellbeing needs to be considered, especially for those of you who use computers a lot for work or kids for study every day.
So, what can we do to support digital wellbeing for our kids?
1. Make an agreement
Parents and kids can agree about the use of technology at home. The agreement is when all people agree with something, it can be the duration when accessing digital, the access limitation of certain websites, and the time that are allowed to access digital gadgets.
2. Use parental control
Make use of the controls available to ensure that the internet is a safer space for your child to explore. You can set up parental control on a device or home internet connection. But keep remembering that parental control is not a replacement of discussion and direct support from parents to kids.
3. Be supportive
Be someone that kids can ask for help when they need it, this is very important because they will get appropriate help from their parents than from their friends. Kids will ask their friends what they want to know if there are no reliable parents, this is dangerous because the friend does not care about him and can even mislead.
4. Technology is an integral part of our life
Technology is becoming an important part of our life, from studying, working, social interactions, and banking. We cannot deny the presence of technology, but we can help children to use technology wisely so that they can experience digital wellbeing in their daily interactions with technology.
5. Use technology with purpose
It is important that we model healthy use of technology which shows to kids healthy routines and purposeful use as this will have an impact on their own use and can give them ideas of how to self manage their time online. It is as simple as not using gadgets when eating or put the gadget away one hour before time to bed.
6. Use wellbeing controls
As I mention above, there are apps to help us manage our digital wellbeing, it is such as the “don’t disturb” feature that you can set on your phone so there is no one can ring your phone at that time. Or the black and white screen, so you remember that it is time to put your smartphone away.
7. Stay informed
It is good to stay informed about the new apps that you can use to help maintain your digital wellbeing. Technology is always developed to match with human needs, keep informed and update about these new features will help you and your family to be well-being.
If you have done all that mentioned above, please keep in mind that the digital worlds also have so much fun such as solitaire games that are fun yet simple to play alone at your leisure.
Comments
These are all really great tips! I have a child with a smart phone, and I will definitely implement some of these.
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