Home Technology Agreements

Younger children should use their devices in an area where they can be monitored, like the family room, kitchen or living room.

No devices in the bedroom while children are sleeping. It can help to have a family charging station in a communal area like the kitchen. Then the adults can also follow this rule! You will need to buy some alarm clocks though...

Take the time to enjoy computers and talk about them with your children as a shared activity.

Keep an eye on your children when they are online and see which websites they visit.

Encourage discussions between you and your child about what they enjoy online.

Make sure that your children feel comfortable coming to you with questions and don’t over react if things go wrong. This is especially important if they have seen something that upsets or disturbs them.

Help us to teach them what information they can share with others online and what they can’t (like telephone numbers, address, their full name and school). This is in the Computing Curriculum, of course, but it needs to be reinforced at home too.

Do not help your children sign up for online services that they are not old enough to use yet. Be aware that some older brothers and sisters have been known to help their younger siblings sign up for these platforms without their parents’ knowledge.

Take advice on what is or isn’t appropriate for the age of your children. There has been plenty of research about the psychological, emotional and behavioural effects of exposing children to inappropriate material before they are ready. The Common Sense Media website is a good place to start. Here, for example, is their page “What's age appropriate for 10- to 12-year-olds?” We have direct links to other age ranges on our Further Reading page.

Make sure your child does not spend all of his/her time on the computer. Although children need regular computer access, this should be as part of an active, balanced lifestyle.