As a parent of two teenagers, I believe strongly in age and maturity-based use of technology by children. There are many opportunities to teach children how to use technology in a way that the technology is an asset in their growth and learning. Ultimately though, technology isn't the solution. Open communication, setting and enforcing boundaries and giving children an opportunity to show they can handle technology in a way that is consistent with your values. Children are constantly exposed to potentially offensive and inappropriate content online regardless of the activity. Technology can only go so far in protecting sensitive individuals from seeing or hearing things they shouldn't.
I work directly with parents and with children to start the conversation around safely using technology as a tool for productivity and appropriate entertainment. I work with the parents to implement controls on technology that are approachable, easy to maintain and relatively difficult to circumvent. This usually happens in 3-4 visits total, and allows parents plenty or time to learn and adjust and begin the process to help their children use technology in a safe manner.
I also lead classes that instruct parents in a group setting how to apply principles and solve problems that are common during childhood and teenage years. This class typically takes place over six 1 hour classes, once per week. The goal being to give parents time to come with questions and get answers, guidance and direction specific to their children and situation. For more information on when the next class will be starting, contact me here.
On-device restrictions like screentime allow control of devices and allow limitation to be placed on devices in your family. You can monitor certain things remotely and change policy based on changing needs in your family. The control is in your hands and using technology as an additional step provides peace of mind.
I tailor a network protection method that fits the rules that you set for your family and children. This includes time-of-day restrictions and amount of usage restrictions, content filtering, virus and malware protection and device alerting. ou will control who can access your home network and be aware of when devices are in use.