Becoming intentional about your child’s daily technology use can influence how they develop a healthy relationship with technology and its role in their life. Looking for ways to experience and learn together about how to use devices wisely contributes to your child’s development.

Step 1: Get Input- Get Your Child Thinking by Getting Their Input

Writing down notes on your child’s responses to the following questions will help you develop rules or routines for device use.

● What are your hopes and goals for your time after school and on weekends?

● Do you get to do everything you want to do in your free time – or connect with the people you want to communicate with (friends, family), or are there things you miss out on?

● What roles do you want your devices to play in your life? (i.e., learning, entertainment, connection with friends)

● Do you tend to want screen time when you experience a particular emotion (e.g., sadness, frustration, anger)?

● What other things would you like to try to calm down and feel better when you have this feeling? Can we talk about it, go outside, listen to music, or draw a picture?

Trap: Be sure you talk about technology use at a calm time when you are not stressed or upset!

Step 2: Teach New Skills

Model healthy technology habits.

● Because technology plays a significant role in our family's life, modeling how you use technology teaches our children more than our words ever could. How are you disciplined about technology? Do you have rules for putting the laptop down and storing work away at the end of the day? Do you have times when you turn off or leave behind your phone? Share those practices with your child so that they understand that it’s not only children who have to manage devices and cultivate healthy technology habits.

● Notice how you cope with challenges and uncomfortable feelings. Do you tend to use technology as an “escape”? Talk with your child about how you are feeling and what you will do to calm down rather than tune out.

Research content together before viewing.

● Our children need to learn to become their very own media analysts. Download an app or visit a media review site together. Get into a habit of reading together about new video games, television programs, movies, and applications before selecting them to view. If they are not developmentally appropriate, move on to something that is.

● Research any topic you are curious about on the internet together and review the keywords to use and the quality of the sites that come up in your search. Discuss the quality and reliability of the site.

Tip: Playing story games with your child, like cooperatively making up a story, can stir imagination, creativity, and a love of stories.

Trap: Not all media is trustworthy! Fake news, images, and videos are interspersed with real media. How do you know what to believe? And how do you guide your child? Making your child aware of the fact that there are fabricated news stories is an essential part of training them to use critical judgment when viewing media.

Step 3: Practice to Grow Skill and Develop Habits

● Use “Show me…” statements with a positive tone and body language to express excitement and curiosity. When your child...