How do our children relate to new technologies?

How do our children relate to new technologies?

We parents often realize that we are not at all updated on the digital world and that, in fact, we are digital “immigrants”.

Our children, especially if they are young, are born and grow up surrounded by new technologies and see them with absolute normality and integrate them into their daily lives.

However, we parents do not know many of the social networks they use and are very far from using the devices for the same purposes as them. Hence the need to be informed and to be able to educate them to prevent possible risks deriving from the use of new technologies.

How our children relate to new technologies

As parents we are their role models and sometimes we don’t realize how much time we spend with our cell phone or tablet in our hands.

Let’s do a reflection exercise. In this way we can then establish rules and limits of use at home that they can follow and which we will obviously respect too. We must therefore make balanced use of it so that they imitate us.

One of these rules could be that devices are not used in the bedroom at night. In this way we could avoid uncontrolled browsing, accessing websites that are not suitable for their age and in general we would avoid excessive use of the mobile phone or tablet.

We also talk about video games. In relation to them, we agree on 3 recommendations to avoid seeing our children addicted to a screen:

1. Time management: for them, playing video games is just another activity and as such must be regulated by us parents. There will be time differences during the week, at weekends, on public holidays, during testing and exam periods.
2. The play space: to monitor the time children spend playing, the games they use and the effects they have on them, it is necessary to share the play space with them. It is also advisable to play with them or be present while they play. In this way we can know the content and manage the time of use more effectively.
3. Game contents: it is normal to be a little “permissive” when purchasing games, listening only to the child’s wishes, without parents looking at the labels and ages for which a particular video game is recommended.

Finally, I could suggest 8 rules that you could share with your children to better manage new technologies:

1. You need to know (have information) about the Internet and its potential risks.
2. We parents must be aware that they are digital natives and that technology is in their daily lives.
3. It is necessary to regulate the spaces in which New Technologies are used.
4. It is necessary to limit the times of use of New Technologies.
5. You must limit the use of content or applications that are not suitable for their age.
6. It is important to educate about what digital identity is.
7. Inform about the implications of sharing photos, personal information, passwords…
8. Educate respect for others inside and outside the network.

And what other rules do you use with your children? Tell me in the comments!