Five Ways Parents Can Teach Healthy Digital Habits to Kids

 

Growing up in a digital world comes with its challenges as both parents and kids are learning, sometimes even the hard way. It can be difficult to regulate our daily technology intake, and similar to sugar, this needs to be regulated in order to make good choices and ensure healthy habits. The impact on our brain and our behaviors have been studied over the years and the data shows us that we all need to learn how to consume properly.  

During this current pandemic, we have all leaned even more so into our technology– for entertainment, connecting with loved ones, online education and keeping apprised on the current situation. With everyone at home more,  this is a perfect time for parents to model healthy technology habits. Here are five tips on how you can create a positive environment around technology and instill and model healthy habits with your kids and the entire family. 

Set screen time limits. Include your kids in a discussion about proper technology usage and setting up the ground rules that make sense for everyone. 

Palm makes this easy with Google Family tracking link. With this app, you are able to see how much time kids spend on their favorite apps, including weekly or monthly activity reports.  Sit down with your everyone and decide as a family the amount of screen time that is appropriate. 

Showcase good digital habits. A lot of parents are working from home during the pandemic. Take this time to model and showcase healthy technology habits for your kids, using technology to care, connect and create.  During this time at home, we are all using technology for entertainment but also to connect with loved ones, teachers and to find out important info. However, it’s just as important to put down our phones and other tech devices to have those face to face interactions, distraction and screen-free. Showing your kids that you can use technology to care, connect and create, while knowing when it’s time to put those devices away and carve out time for the people right in front of us, is a great start to keeping healthy relationship habits. 

Explore offline activities together. At Palm, we encourage people to go into #LifeMode whenever possible. A term we use to explain the importance to disconnect and recharge. Getting outside is even more important than ever and technology can provide a great starting point for offline experiences. Using technology to research certain hikes and then google maps to get you there is a prime example. Once you have arrived to the hike, encourage them to put away the phones and live in the moment with nature and lookup.  

 

Minimize distractions. School this year has changed for many and learning how to minimize distractions while working, studying, or attending an online class can be challenging. By utilizing tools such as Life Mode on Palm, you are able to minimize your distractions and put more focus into the task you are doing, whether that is running, going for a walk, or studying. Get back to the things that matter in your life without the distractions of your digital life.  

Have a discussion about technology. Teach your kids how to be smart, safe and kind on the internet. October is Mental Health Awareness month and a perfect time to speak with the entire family about the effects of bad digital habits and how being smart about usage, being kind to one another, and keeping yourself safe is of the most importance. At Palm, we believe that good phone health leads to good mental health.   

 

By incorporating some of these tips into your daily routine and continuing to have discussions with your family and kids around the importance of healthy digital habits will help them have a better relationship with technology. Take advantage of all this time at home and begin to educate now. Looking for a first phone for your kids, Palm is a great choice.

Looking to get your family connected? Learn more about Palm by visiting here.