Establishing Healthy Online Habits For Your Children

Children are spending more time on digital devices than ever. Whilst it may be initially concerning that they are deciding to devote their time to a screen rather than playing outside, children's friendships and overall knowledge are able to develop online thanks to the interconnectivity of the internet.

Digital devices have become ingrained in children's lives, so it is vital to know how they are spending their time, and how we can ensure that this time brings about something meaningful and important.

Here are four tips to help you establish healthy online habits for your children.

Consistently De-clutter

Remember when you used to swap trading cards when you were a kid because you wanted to change up your collection? The same principle can be applied with your child's device.

Instead of downloading every app under the sun, encourage them to delete the ones they don't use or the ones that don't bring them any value. This also applies to who they follow on YouTube, Instagram, etc.







Create Over Consume

For the most part, children watch videos and follow creators online, without intending to create anything themselves.

Encourage your children to attempt to create the same things they see online - videos and photo editing, games, music, writing, etc.

This way the videos that they are watching will also become educational.







Talk About Who They Are Following

With a click of a button, kids are able to spend hours watching and reading about people from all around the world. Ensure you have constant discussions with them about who they are following.

Prompt your kids to follow those that are going to inspire their passions. For example, if they love cricket, search for cricketers and cricket related accounts.







Lead The Way

With online devices, children can often disregard advice, especially when it comes from their parents. But if you practice what you preach yourself, your children will see this and follow in your footsteps.

For example, if you follow people that inspire you; if you are taking the information you find online and turn it into your creative outlets; you interact with others online in a positive manner; you stop looking at your device when someone is talking to you; you have screen-free times, etc.