Getting teens to stop playing in their online world is a source of conflict within many families. It is also a very significant concern for parents who fear, among other things, cyberaddiction as well as lack of sleep or physical activity.
“It’s very hard to enforce the allocated time – children are always trying to buy time.”
– Mother of a 14-year-old boy
Games and applications are designed to keep players connected as long as possible, connection time being directly related to developers’ income. As such, their constant endeavour is to keep players online for long periods of time. It is only natural that teenagers, and adults, get caught up.
Conflicts are normal and occur in every household. Though a silver bullet to avoid every single conflict does not exist, three principles can help encourage goodwill in any family as far as technology use is concerned.
Have regular discussions with your teen and share each other’s concerns. Being open and avoiding judgment is crucial.
Explain to your teen that apps and games are designed to keep players online as long as possible, because connection time is directly related to the developers’ revenue. Also raise your teen’s awareness about the negative impact a lot of content has on our thoughts, our behaviour and our self-esteem. For instance, many images posted online are touched up using special software or filters, which can contribute to creating unrealistic expectations about our own body.
Set and maintain coherent rules together, as a family, for everyone involved. Rules related to technology use for your teens should not vary from one day to the next, nor should they be unfair when compared to what other family members are allowed to do, parents included (!). Being consistent when applying these rules is a challenge for every family, namely for those dealing with joint custody, but it is very important.
Few teenagers claim to have strict rules related to their use of technology. Only 1 in 4 teenagers say they have a time limit for their use of technology and barely 1 in 10 teens say they are forbidden from accessing given applications or websites. Consequently, teenagers’ online presence escapes adult surveillance and control most significantly. But rules are essential to help prevent online sexual violence.
Here are four key recommendations to help set your own family rules, keeping a balance between your teens’ safety and the respect for their privacy.
To read more about popular applications and games among young people, ways to address certain situations or tools to better guide your teen, check out our other articles.
Set up a multi-device charging station in a common space and try to rely on alarm clocks to avoid the need of devices in bedrooms at night.
