Every mother wants the best for her children. The problem is technology makes it difficult. You may not be tech savvy but your children will be. It means you need to pick up some tech tips to keep your little ones protected.
Whatever type of technological device your children use, there will usually be some type of parental control. Even BBC iPlayer has parental settings!
Make sure they are turned on and set to your required standard all the time. This not only protects them from criminals but also from disturbing and upsetting images.
Avoid getting to overprotective with the internet. Your children will need to use it for school work and may want to just check things out that their friends are looking at.
Allow them to do this and even encourage them to do safe browsing. If you become too over protective about it, you will end up with children doing things out of spite.
Gone are the days when it was just the family computer that you could check on a daily basis easily.
Now there are smartphones, tablet computers and other forms of technology that they can use.
They are all just as dangerous as the family computer so keep an eye on them.
Don’t be overbearing but ask to see the things they look at and the people they talk to.
There are plenty of apps out there to help with parenting. Download them and use them to your advantage. However, don’t let them get in the way of common sense.
You could find them helping you with giving out rewards and taking control of situations but you shouldn’t let them tell you when best to change your baby’s nappy—that depends on the baby!
Technology has grown considerably from when you were younger. Make sure you get involved and find out more about the different systems.
It will take some time, but ask them to teach you the different text languages and what different acronyms mean. You may even be able to teach them some of your own!
Go through the dangers of the internet. You could show them news reports or explain situations that young children have gotten into with the internet.
By explaining the situation to them and letting the browse, you are showing that you trust them. They are less likely to lash out and more likely to follow the rules.
Always have some ground rules in place. This could be on the amount of time spent on the computer or the type of things your child is allowed to use the computer for.
By setting the rules, you are then doing as much as possible to control the situation. Make sure there are punishments in place for breaking the rules too.