Mobile phones and co: what parents should know
safety settings, mobile phone withdrawal as a punishment and age-appropriate rules.
Many mothers and fathers of adolescent teenagers have not grown up with digitalisation and therefore quickly feel overwhelmed. In addition, the media often report rather critically on computer games or social media applications. Both can lead to parents reacting to their children's media consumption with excessive bans - or resigning. The result is arguments in the family because the pubescent offspring don't feel understood.
Tip: Be open, talk to your child, show interest and let them explain things to you.
How much is too much?
One of the most important questions of all: How much time can my child spend with digital media? Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer here. It depends very much on the age, stage of development and, last but not least, the type and content of use. Is the mobile phone mainly used to communicate with friends? To do homework? Does a child play exhausting games for hours on end? Parents need to know this in order to make an age-appropriate judgement.
Tip: Clear, age-appropriate rules on the use of devices are needed, which also take into account the needs of the children. And: Withdrawing mobile phones should not be used as a punishment - for example for an untidy room. Mobile phones are an important social component for children and young people today - even if parents don't always understand this.
What do the children use the devices for?
Many parents don't know what their children use their mobile phones for, for example. If you google your child's name, you may find a surprisingly large number of results. However, you should not do this to monitor your child, but out of interest. What game are you playing? What's so interesting about it? Why do you need Instagram? What does it give you? Do you know your online friends? These questions lead to insightful conversations and give the child the feeling that their parents are really interested.
Tip: Start talking to your child about mobile phones and the like as early as possible. Take care of privacy and security settings together. If you only discover the topic of digitalisation when your child reaches puberty, your questions will no longer be credible and will often be met with rejection.
On Medienstark you will find tips and interactive learning modules for the competent use of digital media in everyday family life. swisscom.ch/medienstark