Rules and boundaries are important for children because they are a guide that they can follow. Especially when it comes to the use of digital media, clear guidelines are important to ensure healthy use. Unfortunately, children often do not yet understand that the parents' ulterior motive when setting guidelines is the child's well-being. In this article, you will find a collection of tips on the tools you can use to motivate your child to stick to your agreements and what you can do if they don't follow them.
Good rules are logical rules
Children understand much more than you think. That's why it's important that you clearly communicate your reasons for certain rules. For example, if you make TV time conditional on watching TV with your child, you can explain to your child why you have decided to do this.
For exampleYour child is in the "magic phase" and cannot yet distinguish between reality and fiction. You could tell your child that it is important to you that you watch TV together so that you are with them if they are scared or want to talk about what they have seen. If your child recognizes your reasons as logical, they will be more likely to stick to them.
It often helps to let your child have a say when it comes to choosing digital activities. You could let your child choose between two digital activities: "Would you rather watch TV for half an hour or play on the computer for half an hour?" This gives your child a choice and makes them feel involved. A discussion about whether both activities are allowed can be avoided.
These tools might even make sticking to the rules fun:
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Vouchers
Hand out media vouchers to your child at the beginning of the week. For example, 5 vouchers with 20 minutes of media use each. Your child can now use these up independently over the course of the week.
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Written agreements
It can be helpful to record the rules in writing. For example, on a pinboard. This way, your child can see the rules in front of them and there is less discussion about their interpretation.
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Time limits for apps and games
Many apps and games have the option of setting a time limit. This can be particularly helpful when introducing new rules. Later on, instead of time limit blocks, there may only be notifications when the limit is reached, or even no notification at all. It is important that you check whether your child is sticking to the limits even without a time limit. In the event of non-compliance, you should discuss the reason for this.
When agreements are not kept
If, despite everything, your child does not stick to your agreements, there must be consequences. You should define these when you set the rules so that your child knows what to expect right from the start. This is often enough to motivate your child to comply. It is important that the consequences have something to do with the rule that your child has "broken". So don't forbid a meeting with your best friend if the TV times have not been adhered to. Media use should also not be used as a punishment or reward, as this makes it much more important for your child. However, one possible consequence could be that if time is exceeded, this time is deducted from the next day's or next week's quota.
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Your Anio Team
