Healthy Habits for Children and Technology
Collaborative Guest Post
Technology can be used in such a healthy way for kids, as it’s a great tool to use for education and brain development. It is also great for them to connect with other family members who perhaps they wouldn’t be able to connect with if it wasn’t for the internet and technology. With that being said, there are a lot of downsides for kids being able to use technology, hence why there are so many people out there explaining the doom and gloom of kids mixing with technology and the internet. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing though, so we have some tips for some healthy technology habits for your kids.
Explain
Talking to your kids is so important in all manners of life, especially talking about the internet. It is so important that they know they do have to be careful online and what the risks are, but be careful not to scare or frighten them too much with explaining these risks properly. They need to know how to not expose their details and how they need to ask for your permission on a number of things they want to do online. Make sure you teach them about internet safety.
Bedtime
One thing that technology should not impact is your child’s bedtime. Don’t lose out on precious story time with your kids because they are playing on their tablet or watching something. It is important that they put their technology away in the evening a while before bed, so that it isn’t disrupting them becoming sleepy. If your child isn’t sleeping well, it may be to do with them using their technology too close to bedtime. Technology can really impact sleep as Simply Rest notes in this post.
Screen Time
This tip can completely depend on the parent’s judgement. If you notice that your child is playing too many video games in the day, then perhaps setting up a screen time for them playing games would be useful for them so that they can play outside in the fresh air or do something different that would be productive for them. It becomes tricky if you were to set a one-hour technology time limit a day, for example, because things like homework may be online, or if they are video calling family, you may argue that those activities don’t count. Every family is different, and every child is different, so see what rules work best for your own situation.
Fresh Air and Sunshine
If your child is spending too much time on their tablets, laptops or computers etc., they may be losing out on precious fresh air or vitamins from the sunlight. If your child is in their room for most of the day, not only will they be missing out on development from playing outside, but they may also be missing out on the chance to make some friendships. If they are playing video games with online buddies that you and your child know, it’s great to a certain extent, but making real life friendships is a vital part of life. Make sure they are getting out enough and meeting new people – perhaps suggest if they would like to take up a new hobby like basketball or soccer. This will ensure that they are getting enough exercise too as well as meeting people their own age in real life.
Technology is a normal aspect of modern-day life, so it isn’t worth completely shielding your child from it. As long as they are still getting the proper development they should be and they are being safe online, technology is a brilliant tool for them to use.