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This is a great app that allows parents to have a conversation with children about their usage of social media and the internet on their devices. It also lets them feel in control of their time online and helps them learn to make decisions about their own time management. Let’s face it, technology is great but for young children, it causes parents to cringe from knowing all that they could possibly access. If you have not yet allowed your child to have a device, let me encourage you to find an app like Unglue to help set boundaries for their technology use prior to giving them a device. Establish sound and firm rules about all situations in which you may find yourselves (car trips, dr. offices, always in the family room, time limits, and rules about appropriate and inappropriate use) and STICK TO THOSE RULES!
I have used this app on my own son’s phone and it works well! I can limit his internet use to certain hours of the day. He can bank his unused time each day and we can decide how much he can withdraw at once from his banked time on days he runs out. There is also a section within the app where they can earn more time after completing chores and they can ask for more minutes. You are alerted when their time is almost up and they are also notified that they are out of time. I can also immediately cut him off from internet access on his phone if I choose with the touch of a button within my Unglue parent app.
Now if your child is older and they are tech savvy, they will probably find a way around this app’s restrictions. Because you have access to a list of all internet sites that they visit through the unglue app, you can check up on them to see if they are following all the rules you established without being confrontational.
If they break the rules, there needs to be an agreed upon consequence and it should probably involve taking the device away for a time period that would fit the infraction and this should be worked out beforehand.
This app works best with iPhones, iPads, android phones or ipods. It will also work on other devices but they require a few extra steps to set up and connect to your parent app with the kids app.
I am sure there are more apps out there that do similar things. This is worth a try especially if you feel that your child has been sucked into the technology twilight zone! Help your child unglue from their device and tune into their family, friends, and people and events around them. Balance is key!
-Sarah Bragwell, ITF, FE Burleson
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