Category: Parenting

The phone, a device once used solely for the purpose of calling one another, has quickly become capable of just about everything.  The birth of mobile phones has brought the world to our finger tips, both good and bad.  And who would have believed a decade ago that these smart portable computers would be in the hands of most kids.

With such a powerful device now available to just about everyone, it becomes more and more of a challenge to limit your child’s usage of their phone. Activities available on a smartphone seem endless; playing games, making music, watching videos, and even browsing the internet. Unfortunately, as with many things in life, without moderation and protections put in place, there can be consequences.

Should I Allow My Child to Get a Phone?

Before asking whether how to limit your child’s phone usage, it is probably worth discussing whether your child should be allowed to have a phone in the first place. A phone is an extremely useful tool for your child to have in order to gain a sense of independence, allowing them to attend after-school clubs or extracurricular activities while staying in contact with you.

While your child may claim that all of their friends have a phone and try to use this as a reason that they should have one, it is up to you to decide at what age it is appropriate and not their friend’s parents. By allowing your child to have a phone at a young age, you are essentially granting them access to an unfiltered and unsafe world that they are not be ready for.

Limiting my Child’s Phone Usage

Luckily, when you decide that it is the right time for your child to have a phone, there are still parental control filters that can be installed to ensure that they aren’t visiting unsafe sites, as well as any site that isn’t age-appropriate. It is also possible to install parental control filters to actually limit the amount of time that they spend online each day. While you may think that installing these filters is all you need to do, it is important that the limits that you set are fair and that you also set a good example for your children with your own phone usage. When necessary, you may want to track your child’s phone.

A Digital Family Alliance

Although parental filters can definitely help, sometimes setting strict limits on your children’s devices while you continue to use yours to your heart’s content can create tension in your household. Creating a digital family alliance is a great way to adopt healthy digital habits together. By being honest with your children, it opens up a dialogue where everyone can contribute, letting each family member explain the difficulties they have when it comes to limiting the amount of time they spend on their phone. After all, how can you expect your children to get away from their phones if you can’t get away from yours?

Is all Phone Usage bad for your Children?

Although we have been talking about limiting our children’s phone usage, it would be wrong to say that all phone usage is bad for them. Having a phone does give your child a sense of independence as well as allowing them to stay in contact with friends and even participate in productive activities.

Today, children can use their phones to learn digital art, how to make music, and even get into photography, the potential is limitless. The point here is that it is important to understand how much time should be spent on non-productive activities such as scrolling through social media or watching endless YouTube videos to name a few. Monitoring the amount of time that they are using their phone for these different activities is crucial to allowing them to enjoy any creative hobbies that they may need their phone for while cutting out the junk food of their digital diet.

Conclusion

So we can agree that our phones are incredibly useful devices when in the right hands. By working together as a family we can create rules that are easy enough for everyone to sustainably adhere to. If you are thinking of limiting your child’s phone usage, make sure to ask them how long they think is an acceptable amount of time to spend on their phones and create an open space where you can discuss your digital week. After all, families can get through anything when they work together.

It can be hard to make sure your kids stay happy and healthy during online classes. The sudden shift to a virtual format has been anything but easy. If you’re a parent watching your child struggle as they try to adjust to the online format, here are a few suggestions for ways that you can help.

Set Your Child Up with a Dedicated Home Classroom

There are dedicate a space for your child to do their school work. Much like working from home, a dedicated space creates boundaries and helps establish school-life balance.

It also gives you the chance to create a specific area that is optimized for school. You and your child can personalize the space to help them stay organized and positive every time they enter the area to “go to school.”

Don’t Let Your Kid Work on Something for Too Long

It’s officially recommended that an adult not work on the same task for more than two hours at a time. For children with shorter attention spans, that number drops dramatically. If you have a preschooler, their attention span maxes out at a whopping 5 to 20 minutes.

If your kid is spending too much time on a project or a piece of homework, don’t be afraid to break up the job for them. Helping them learn to regulate themselves and take breaks will be a skill that they take with them for the rest of their lives.

Help Your Kid Unplug Often

The focus of getting through online school is obviously on the “online” part. However, it’s also good to consider the time when your kids are not in class, too. A few suggestions for ways to help them include:

• Turning off distractions like notifications on their mobile devices.
• Using the “screen time” or “focus mode” features to curb access to unnecessary apps.
• Limiting screentime in the evenings and weekends.
• Making sure they aren’t getting too much blue light before bedtime.

They may not love it at the moment, but helping your child unplug when they aren’t in school will do wonders for their mental state.

Regularly Check In with Your Kid

While unplugging and being in the present are important, you also want to ensure that your kid isn’t spending too much time completely on their own.

One way to address this is by planning family time. Look for hobbies like cooking or reading that you can do together. Additionally, simply spend time talking with them. You can use these occasions to check in and see how they’re doing. For instance, if they’re feeling tired, you can talk about the connection between fatigue and depression and then use that as a segue for more health-related conversations.

Make Sure Your Child Isn’t Alone Too Much

Along with private conversations, you can also help your child maintain their social lives. You can do this by setting up Zoom playdates, letting them make phone calls, or even planning a full-blown virtual party for your kid. Because every family in your circle is likely in the same boat, be sure to plan far in advance.

You can also help them stay connected in more subtle ways. For instance, have them write an email or even a handwritten letter to one of their friends. Whatever the activity, look for ways to help your kid avoid the closed-off feeling of prolonged isolation.

Tend to Your Kid’s Basic Health Concerns

It’s also important to help your kids understand the importance of basic health maintenance. This should focus on three areas, in particular:

• Sleep: Make sure that they’re getting the right amount of sleep for their age.
• Exercise: Consistent exercise helps keep the body healthy and stress at a minimum.
• Eating: A well-rounded diet is critical for growing minds and bodies.

Once again, helping your kids learn to consider these important things while they’re also balancing virtual school is a life skill that they’ll continue to benefit from for decades.

Set Your Child Up for Success

Finally, it’s also important to grease the wheels for your child’s educational success wherever possible. This can be done in many ways, such as:

• Charging their digital devices while they’re sleeping.
• Maintaining a consistent and clear schedule for them.
• Teaching them about Zoom etiquette and how to communicate online.

By doing what you can behind the scenes, you can help your child feel supported and encouraged every day.

Cultivating Happy, Healthy Kids During Remote School

The education system may be in a rapid state of change at the moment. However, that doesn’t mean that your kids have to suffer from the negative side effects of the ongoing academic evolution.

Do your best to come by their side and support them throughout this transformative time. While we may not know what will come next, if you can stay strong for your kids during this time, you can rest assured that your family won’t suffer, regardless of what the future may hold.

This world can be tough on kids, especially those with divorced parents or guardians that live apart. If that wasn’t enough, some children also have to deal with a new world full of technology and tech-related challenges. To help with this concern, we would like to provide some tips for establishing internet safety while co-parenting.

While the online space does provide plenty of perks (educational software, easy communication with loved ones), it also creates a fair share of concerns. There is a lot of adult content online that your kids shouldn’t see, and there is also the risk of cyberbullying. As co-parents, you both need to be on the same page, so your child is protected regardless of the roof they are under.

Here are some guidelines to establish and maintain internet safety while co-parenting.

Enact The Same Rules

When your child announces that they want to start using the internet, both parents have to sit down and go over the ground rules. Having the same rules in both homes is absolutely essential, so both parents are always aware of what their child is doing when cruising the internet in their house. Start by having a conversation with your kids about how social media works, how strangers can see personal information they share, and what information they should not put on their profile pages.

Both guardians also have to come to a consensus about where the computer or device can and cannot be used. For the youngest kids, it is a good idea to put it in a highly-populated space like the kitchen or living room when the parent is nearby. Younger kids should not be able to go online when their parents are not around. You also need to set limits for how often the kids can be online. A good place to start is by restricting usage to an hour of online time per day once their homework and chores are completed.

One way to ensure that your kids follow the rules set forth by both parents is by having them complete a child/parent internet safety agreement. Yours can mimic the example in the link as it should have similar guidelines, including what information they can and cannot share on social media platforms. It should also require that they inform their parents if they see anything strange or scary online. Put this signed form next to the computer, so it is a constant reminder.

Maintain Consistency While Co-Parenting

Custody agreements vary greatly depending on the number of children in the family and the ability of each parent to be present to care for them.  And when it comes to internet safety, the various ages of each child need to be considered. This will add complexity as both parents carve out a plan to ensure consistency between the two households. It gets even more involved for blended families that exist from previous marriages. Variables include the percentage of time each child spends in each household, the time of day whether its weekdays or evenings. Additionally, there are school holidays and longer school breaks to consider.

Being fully aware of your custody schedule will greatly clarify things and enable co-parents to implement and maintain the same rules in all instances for each child.  One thing is for sure, children will be moving around from home to home, to and from school, as well as spending time with friends. Rules should be focused and laid out, so that they are easy to understand for everyone involved.

Be Proactive In Their Security

It is essential that both co-parents are on the same page when it comes to putting the proper protections in place on your computers and devices so the kids can stay out of harm’s way. The future of privacy will see many advancements, but also several issues as cybercriminals find new ways to take advantage of evolving technology. For example, new phones are always adding on cameras, GPS functions, and other perks that, while helpful, can also allow hackers to track your location and steal your data, which is not so great. As parents, you can only focus on what you can control, so work together and try these tips.

The best approach to protecting your kid from online dangers is by enabling internet safety tools on the devices your kids are using. Control settings are available on every web browser, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. These add-ons allow you to block certain websites, control how long the internet can be used, and restrict sites that are known for creating virus and malware problems.

Parental controls should also be set on mobile devices. Android devices and iPhones both have settings and available apps that control how much your child can see when they go online. Once you have the software enabled, you can also go back and see what websites your kids have been visiting and modify their access as needed.

In addition to parental controls, both parents should check any devices their children use and ensure that they are equipped with antivirus software. If your child accidentally goes to a website where malware is present, hackers might be able to use it to access your device and steal data, passwords, or the contact information of your friends and family. To prevent this threat, install this software ASAP and run scans weekly to wipe out any viruses that might be present.

Consider the Dangers of Cyberbullying

We are in a new day in age where cyberbullying is becoming more common than ever before, especially for children. In fact, recent numbers show that 36% of kids have been cyberbullied at some point in their youth. Cyberbullying can take many different forms, from name-calling and harassment to cyberstalking across multiple platforms and devices. Sometimes it can be difficult to know when your child is being bullied, but there are some signs that something may be wrong, such as trouble sleeping, becoming more quiet and withdrawn, or having sudden violent outbreaks.

If one parent notices any of these signs, they should immediately speak to the other so you can come together to comfort your child and put a stop to the harassment. Inaction is not an option. Find out what sites or social media platforms they were bullied on and take pictures for evidence if you feel it is important to do so. Never reply to the messages. Just block the sender and alert the authorities if necessary.

Of course, the best defense is to be proactive as cyberbullying can affect a child’s psyche. Tell your children that they should never share personal information online and if anyone ever asks for private information that they should report it to one of their parents immediately. Most important is building a level of trust with your children so they feel comfortable letting you know when they are put in uncomfortable situations, either online or at school. By nipping potential issues in the bud right away, you can prevent them from escalating.

While you may not be a traditional family, you are still two parents that love their children very much. Put that love into action by being a constant presence in your child’s online life.

Additional Resources:

• How to be an amazing stepparent to a school aged child.
• How a single parent can boost their child’s academic success.

In educational institutes, a parents-teachers meeting (PTM) is essential to inform the parents about their child’s growth in school. Often, the arrangement does not take place with effective measures leaving miscommunication, partial communication, or no communication.

As well, in the current scenario, both parents are mostly working; hence, they do not make it up for the PTM sometimes.

If you are looking for tips and tricks for improving the parent-teacher school meeting, you have landed at the right spot. Here, we are listing the top tips that will enhance the overall PTM experience.

#1. Use school management system

While you want to strengthen parent-teacher communication in the meetings, you should use a school management system. The system offers a quick and easy communication facility where teachers can send direct notifications or updates to the parents. Apart from this, they can make students’ results and progress reports available online, so parents can view the details without visiting the school.

In fact, the use of such software is being increased day by day. The educational system insists on delivering a high-quality experience to the students and parents, which can be fulfilled by online learning effectively and efficiently.

#2. Offer personalized meeting experience

Each student is unique, so the teacher needs to inform all parents of different details. In this instance, it would be a great idea to deliver a personalized experience for all guardians. This will enable in maintaining the privacy of students’ improvement and allow parents to converse openly. Besides, personalized meeting conversations will enhance the school’s reputation and image among all the parents.

#3. Design shorter, frequent communication

Do not opt for one long communication or wait until the end of the term to reach out with an extended recap to communicate with parents. This will not only create complications in the communication but also create flaws in informing the details.

Just as schools have shifted to more frequent evaluations of students, school communications should also be short and frequent to keep parents in the loop on a continuous basis. A school management app is the best way for this type of communication, where parents and teachers can stay connected frequently.

#4. Allow flexible meeting schedule

This is one of the highly demanded options by the parents. As both parents are working (in most instances), they might not be able to make up at the designated time for the PTM. If your institute’s goal is to strengthen parent-teacher communication, flexibility in the meeting schedule should be there.

Furthermore, in today’s digital world, parent teacher communication can also take place online via school management software. The accessibility of communication with teachers from anywhere, working parents admire this type of facility from a school.

#5. Keep students’ report ready beforehand

 If a teacher has prepared the students’ reports beforehand, it will be a lot easier to communicate the details effectively. With the complete record and progress report on hand, teachers only need to focus on emphasizing having an effective conversation. Moreover, they can present students’ work quickly so that parents can get an overview of their child’s progress at the school.

#6. Provide actionable information

Providing information to keep parents up-to-date is recommended, but schools also need to make sure they share information that parents can act on. This can include opportunities for parents to encourage or prepare their child for classroom assignments or learn about forthcoming extracurricular activities and special events.

Apart from the above mentioned tips, here are some other consideration that helps in improving parent teacher communication;

• Encourage teachers to be proactive about communication with parents. If parents are not participating actively, send them reminders and ask them to join a meeting.
• Build a report with the parents and inform them about their child’s overall behavior or progress at school. If required, teachers should connect with specialists for the betterment of students.
• Arrange for the translator if there is a requirement for making the communication a flawless process.
• Assess family dynamics for students who have parents no longer living together and ensure proper communication for both households.
• Make sure a teacher is using appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication.
• Do not forget to mention the positives about each student to their parents.
• Take advantage of technology where possible and needed.

Effective communication between parents and teachers is crucial for the betterment of students. As teacher and parent relationships play a vital role in the development of a student, both of them need to communicate frequently and on a continuous basis. Once parents are aware of their child’s progress at school, they can take certain measures to notice visible improvements in the student’s progress.

In a nutshell, when you are trying to make parent-teacher communication an effective process, there are certain elements that play their role. For instance, if you opt for a tech-savvy approach, it will be a lot easier to share information with parents. Also, it will advance the manual tasks and create a positive impression. If a teacher keeps the above mentioned points in mind while conversing with parents, the PTM can be as effective as expected.

About the author:
Shobhit Srivastava is an avid writer. He holds spectacular skills in school automation, loyalty programs, marketing, and customer retention. Connect with him on Twitter!