Top ideas for Digital Age Parenting

Top Tips!

Ensure that your child(ren) are balancing technology use with other areas of their lives, like playing outside and interacting with others.

Remember that the quality of technology being used is often even more important than the quantity!

To stay in control of the digital world in your home, you can filter the internet and to set limits for your children. The internet can be filtered throughout your home to prevent your child from accessing inappropriate websites using a filter such as the Disney Circle or CleanRouter. Family expectations such as "no device" hours can be put in place, and most filtering products allow you to "turn off" the internet for your children during certain hours. See Parental Controls & Device Monitoring for more information.

Family expectations like kids charging their devices in a public space in the home (such a the kitchen or family office) at night can help with both screen time and monitoring so kids aren't online after bedtime. You can also set non-educational / non-work screen time limits as a family, then plan fun things to do together during no-screen times. Technology can be great, but it's all about balance!

Educational Programs

Encourage your child to use their device for educational purposes with fun apps/websites like Starfall, Epic! eBooks or Prodigy math game. For older students, their device is a great tool for studying using websites like Quizlet or Virtual Nerd. Further suggestions grouped by age can be found on the "Resources for Students" section of the website. Studies show that screen time is actually beneficial when spent doing something educational, particularly when a parent is working with the student.

Creativity & Creation Programs

In addition to educational apps and websites, there are many great programs that encourage creativity and creation, such as drawing or movie-making programs. Some great ones include iMovie, Toontastic, Book Creator, Adobe Photoshop Sketch, Adobe Spark, Do Ink (Green Screen & Animation), Superhero Comic Book Maker and Chatterpix. Studies show that time spent creating content (drawing, making videos, taking & editing photos, etc.) is much more beneficial than consuming content (watching videos, scrolling through social media, etc.).

Apple's Screen Time Feature

Apple devices offer a feature called Screen Time. You can turn this on in Settings, and set up tracking and limits on the usage of certain apps or time spent the device itself. It also lets you set up "Downtime" when the device cannot be used (such as for bedtime). This is a great tool to talk to your kids about what they're spending their time doing online, as well as to set limits for them if needed. *If your child has already set up Screen Time on their own device, turn it off then turn it back on and select "This is My Child's iPad/iPhone." Now it will let you set up Screen Time limits and Downtime for your child.

Apple's Guided Access Feature

Use Guided Access on an iPad or iPhone to "lock" kids into a particular app (such as something educational) or set a time limit for playing on an app. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access then turn Guided Access on and create a passcode (that your child doesn't know). Then, once the app is open, triple click the Home button and select Start. To end Guided Access, triple click the home button again, enter your passcode, and select End.