Keeping Kids Away from Technology

Starting from My Experience

The whole context of this short note is from my own experience as Technologist with about 15 Years of Experience in ICT Industry and as father of 4 Year old boy.

It was pretty natural for me to observe that my son was attracted to bright screens (Mobile, Laptop & TV) for couple of years now and he owns a mobile for almost a year now.

The photo here is my own son doing two of nastiest things as look from an angel of most conventional parents Thumb Sucking & Watching Videos on Mobile (or I might say using Technology)

Was that his own choice at first ? Yes / No

Why would a children be attracted to a Mobile ?

I would say from my own experience that was Me, My Spouse & My immediate family is guilty of bring in the attention of the child towards bright screens.

He was influenced by the regular usage of mobile by Father, Mother & Grand Parents. Watching TV, I my self working on the Laptop at home when he's around. It's scientifically proven that parental behavior is impacting the child.

Who is Guilty ? Parents or Child --> NONE. Why ?

We are living in a era of Internet which the conventional means of the communication, education, day to day activities and many more are tightly bound with the technology, specifically with the very bright screens.

In my opinion, we can't stop or limit parents been using technology neither the attraction of the kids to it.

What shall we do ?

The following article on The New York Times on How and When to Limit Kids' Tech Use is one of the best articles that I came across giving an comprehensive overview and series of tips for parents. The following are the 3 key tips for parents of kids of any age

1. Aim for Balance
2. Be a Role Model
3. Make Tech a Family Affair

Following the Tips, My Own Experience

Aim for Balance

As a Technologist and a Parent working from Home due to the pandemic, I had many hardships managing the kid as he has never experienced a similar encounter.

This image depicts how he tries to play with me while I was on a call with my Bosses. Eventually, it came to a stage where my boss even suggested that to work from office if it's difficult to manage. But, I thought of take up the challenge and blend the kid with my work. Which was a success and now to date I'm working from home for nearly 7 months which I have no disturbances from the child.

What did I do ? I have involved him in the use of my laptop, I created his own Account, Created a Google & Facebook account (I just indicated his age + 10 to make sure I can do it). I came to an agreement and allowed him to try all of it while I'm not busy with work (You can make use of focus time, My Insights is a perfect tool for this)

Be a Role Model

Try to to adopt to a routine, make some disciplines which is significant for your kid to observe. Examples such as don't take your phone to the bed, don't use phone while eating, no phone use while driving or at your vehicle, don't play games on phone while kids are around and etc.

You may have to put restriction for them to recognize the rules but eventually, kids will follow.

Make Tech a Family Affair

Now that with my kid own a phone, facebook & google account: he is making use of technology for communication, education & entertainment.

Does this make them genius than us, Not exactly. We could have being doing the same if we had access to a touch enabled smart phone & UX improvements we have today.

dos and don'ts

dos

• install a blue light filter - This will make sure that you control the brightness of the mobile screens. Twilight is what I'm using.
• install a volume limiter - This will make sure that you control the volume, which is helpful for you to set it to a level which is not distracting your work. I'm using Volume Limiter (Limit & Lock)
• activate parental control - This will make sure that you get notifications on activities, limit installation of apps & many more.

don'ts

• buy a headset - Buying an headset will limit you ability to monitor the child while he is on the device. This might lead to awkward situations and you'll not notice if he's watching any videos which is not appropriate (Not particularly porn or so but any content that gives a wrong impressions to the kid)
• mobile data connection - not including a mobile data connection will avoid the child been exposed to mobile signals while he is on the phone also it'll provide you an opportunity to monitor kids activities via WiFi (if you have a proxy installed)
• handover your device - avoid handing over your personal device with the account logged in, as it will have impact on you as well as on the child. He might play with your office work and/or expose to the content which is not appropriate for him/her.

Conclusion

It's not possible to keep the kids away from technology. Make sure that you know how to monitor and control. Be an influence to the child so that he'll learn to use technology appropriately to become an effective, efficient & SMART person in the future.