Screen time management: a parent’s diary

Like many parents, screen time is a constant point of discussion in my house, and it only becomes more complex as my primary school aged children become older and more savvy.

Screen time studies

In the grand scheme of things, the whole issue of screen time is a relatively new one; iPads have, amazingly, only been around since 2010. We’re only starting to understand the impact of screen time on children and how best to manage it. There have been many recent studies on screen time and its impact on mental health, addiction, physical well being, sleep and even BMI when it comes to children (a really nice summary here).

Apple’s iOS12 and screen time

Apple is addressing this head on with the release of iOS 12 and its concomitant screen time controls. You can not only monitor your own screen time usage but also use it to control your childrens’ device time. It is a positive step forward but difficult not to be cynical in that it seems to only be able to control Apple devices and hence good for driving Apple sales (not that a counter argument couldn’t be made for inhibiting app usage!). It’s great if your children have iPhones and iPads, but doesn’t really help those families whose children have Android phones, which are easier on the wallet.

Screen time ‘best practice’?

In our house, we’ve followed a lot of ‘best practice’ for screen time for primary school children. We have very specific rules around screen time we try our best to be vigilant about: no screens in bedrooms, no technology at the table, and no screens during the week. Common Sense Media have put together this helpful agreement as a guideline.

These rules are great for younger kids, but sometimes you need a more nuanced level of control, particularly as children get older and start needing to use computers for school. We started bending our own rules when we realised that we wanted our 8 year old son to access books on tape (Audible) on our iPad during the week and wanted our 10 year old daughter to be able to listen to music to practice her drums.

Trying out parental controls

I installed an app called Our Pact on my phone and connected it to our iPad. As a little experiment, I pressed the big ‘BLOCK’ button while my daughter was having her screen time. I was shocked and amazed when my daughter turned pale and said, “Mummy! Help! Something’s very, very wrong with my iPad!”Everything on the iPad had been shut down, and I realised this level of control could prove a bit addictive.

Setting up the full set of controls for Our Pact can be a bit trying, but, once it was all said and done I was very pleased to be able to allow certain apps all the time and others only some of the time. Everyone has a budget in terms of how much screen time they’re allowed per day and can play or pause their allowance using an app called ‘Our Pact Jr.’ on their device (You can read a fuller description of Our Pact and how it works here).

Better communication through better control

One thing I have noticed through implementing stricter parental controls is that it’s opened up a whole dialogue between me and my children regarding what they’re doing on their screens. Now that they have to negotiate with me for time to play ‘Clash Royale,’ we have more of a discussion about what the game is about. I’m generally more involved in their on- screen lives; or at least those parts of it that I can engage with.

I am hoping that at the very least this engagement will set a precedent for involving me in their on- screen lives as they start to engage online in a social way. My 10 year old does not have a social media account as of yet, though I’m hoping that when she does, she will feel comfortable discussing her usage with me. Looking at the road ahead, it’s screen usage during the teen years that most concerns me; hopefully by setting up healthy habits now, we’ll be well-equipped.

Supervised users on Chromebooks

It bears mentioning that another type of parental control I’ve tried is having my children set up as supervised users on a Chromebook. This way, they’re only allowed access to certain age appropriate content online and I can see a history of everything they’ve accessed. Google announced it was discontinuing this feature earlier this year and will launch something in the near future. Looks like everyone is adapting to changing needs around parental controls. Watch this space!