Now, this is one topic that really creates a big divide among parents around the world. Every mother, father, or guardian who is responsible for a young child (or children), all have different takes and approaches on technology and the role it should play in a child’s life.
What age is appropriate for a child to start learning about phones and the internet?
Should they even be introduced to technology at such a young age?
What rules and restrictions do parents need to impose when it comes to internet usage?
These questions are some of the most common ones’ parents ask. And to be completely honest, I don’t think anyone will ever have the perfect answer. No parent is perfect and we’re all just doing what we believe serves our children’s best interests. That said, no one can really fault you for giving or not giving your child access to the internet, or how young they should be for you to allow them.
At the end of the day, all of us parents have our own unique ways of rearing our own children to become responsible adults and we all know that regardless of which methods we decide to try or what belief systems we operate with, we do everything with our kids’ well-being in mind (check this out).
However, if you’re still completely undecided or just utterly confused as to which side you want to be on, there are a couple things you need to consider when it comes to children and technology. It’s not always black and white; there are a lot of benefits technology can bring into your child’s life as much as there are also risks and drawbacks. What matters is how you control and supervise their use of such technology so that they reap all the benefits while also staying clear of the not-so-good stuff.
Here are 7 considerations we believe you should think about as a parent before deciding on what roles technology should have in your child’s life:
1. Is My Child Old Enough To Handle Technology Responsibly?
A lot of parents out there debate over what age is too young for a child to receive their first mobile phone or device. In our opinion, it’s less about the age and more about your child’s awareness, or basically their level of mental and emotional maturity.
Children, much like adolescents or even full-grown adults, develop differently. There are those who develop much faster and those that take their time. Both of which are completely okay. However, those that develop mental and emotional awareness much faster are more likely to handle technology, and all the pros and cons that come with it, more responsibly since they have the capacity to do so.
Therefore, when deciding whether your kid is old enough to responsibly own a mobile phone, you should look at how they treat or regard other items or belongings that they possess.
When you buy them a new toy, a new shirt, or a new bag for school, how do they care for it?
If you allow them to watch TV or borrow your phone, how do they react when you tell them they’ve watched or played enough?
Based on your child’s temperament and their ability to receive and accept guidance, you will see whether they are ready for the responsibility of owning a mobile device. Read more about this here: https://mobilabonnement.com/barn-og-mobiltelefonbruk/ .
2. Will My Child Benefit From Having A Mobile Phone At This Stage of His or Her Life?
Another thing you should consider is whether it is actually beneficial for your children to own smartphones or other internet-enabled devices at this point in their life. Forget about their classmates or their friends, or your friends who already gave their same-age son or daughter their first phone, you should look at your own children’s reality (and theirs alone) and figure out whether having a phone will become a value-add to their current lifestyle.
Some benefits that you should consider are:
- Education – Are there educational materials that your child can more conveniently access on a mobile phone rather than other learning mediums? Is there educational relevance to them receiving their first phone at this point in their life?
- Communication – Is your child at an age where they can leave the house by themselves to hang out with friends, do errands, or go to school? If so, then having their own phones will give you a way to communicate with them regularly whenever they are not at home.
- Emergencies – And by having a communication device, your child can alert you faster if they find themselves in a state of emergency, as in the case of in-campus or off-campus accidents.
3. What Limitations Should I Set To Help My Child Maintain A Healthy Relationship With Technology?
Now, fast-forwarding to a future where you do give your child their first mobile phone, another consideration you should have is how you can guide them towards keeping a healthy relationship with technology.
As much as technology has a myriad of benefits, it also comes with a lot of distractions such as online games, streaming services, social media applications, etc. To clarify, all these things are not bad when consumed in moderation. It is only when they are used excessively that they can bring more harm than benefit to anyone. And children, young as they are, tend to be more susceptible to over-indulging in platforms like this.
Gaming is a great way to spend time for leisure as it’s enjoyable and most games also help develop certain skill sets. However, it becomes a risk once your child does it too often for extended periods of time. They can end up losing sleep, losing focus on their studies, and it can be detrimental to their health, especially during their developmental years.
The same thing goes with social media applications and streaming services. Social media is a good way to stay in touch with friends and develop those social skills. However, too much of it is also not very good for your child’s emotional development as there is also a side to social media that glorifies physical attributes so much that it may relay the wrong message to the youth.
All in all, while children can be allowed to have a mobile phone and use the internet, you have to make sure that you also set up reasonable limitations so that your kids are still able to enjoy life without the internet and understand that there is more to the world than what’s happening within their little devices.
4. What Can I Do To Supervise My Child’s Internet Use & Activity?
While we strongly believe that children are more responsible than we think and we encourage developing independence at an early age, supervision is still advised to a reasonable degree. It is still our job as parents to make sure that we oversee our children’s development so that we can intervene fast whenever we see that something isn’t right. So, while we are not here to control, considerable guidance should still be given to ensure that our kids are not being led astray by negative online influences.
One thing you can consider is opting for a family mobile data sharing service. Again, to clarify, this is not to restrict your children’s online activity or to “watch them like a hawk” as some would say. With mobile data sharing, you would at least know how much time your child spends online everyday based on their data consumption. You can also cap their consumption with a monthly limit, so they also learn how to allocate their mobile data responsibly.
5. What Type Of Mobile Device Will Best Benefit My Child At This Moment?
Maybe your kid doesn’t need a mobile phone but can benefit from using other internet-enabled devices, like tablets or desktop computers.
For example, a child younger than 10 would probably have zero use for a mobile phone as they will not likely be going anywhere without a guardian. However, they can benefit from watching educational videos off YouTube for 30 minutes a day. In this case, you might as well get them an iPad or an Android tablet so they can watch on a bigger screen and avoid hurting their eyes.
On the other hand, if your kid is in grade school or junior high, then a mobile phone would be necessary, especially if they commute to school by themselves.
6. What Types Of Applications Should I Allow My Child To Use?
Next, we have mobile applications. Not all applications will be beneficial for your children, especially when they are not targeted towards their age group. Make sure that you are also on top of the applications they use so that you are able to supervise the types of online content that they are exposed to.
For instance, in the case of younger children, instead of downloading YouTube, download YouTube Kids. It has all the same functions and serves the same purpose, but the content is curated for a younger audience. Anything that involves violence or other themes that are not kid-friendly is removed from this version of YouTube making it a safer application for your kids.
7. What Should I Watch Out For As A Parent With Regards To My Child’s Internet Usage?
As we mentioned a couple of times throughout the article, technology, mobile phones, and the internet all have risks as much as they have merits. And without proper supervision, the internet can be a scary place for children who are only learning about the world.
As a parent, you need to make sure that they are consuming the right content that will teach them the right values and beliefs. You also have to be careful that they are not exposed to themes that are not appropriate to their age, as well as influences that may have a negative effect on them.
All in all, the use of mobile phones and the internet isn’t bad for children, just make sure that they are receiving the right guidance and supervision as they discover more about the online and offline world.