Have the Smart Talk with Your Kids as Soon as you Can

If you’re like most parents you’ve got some form of limitations, rules, and guidelines in place for electronics. But have you ever formerly sat down and discussed them? What about if you’re divorced? Does the coparent understand and abide by the same rules?

Having The Smart Talk with your kids explains it all and after signing a mutually agreed upon ruleset everyone is more likely to abide by them.

The Smart Talk

Having The Smart Talk wasn’t awkward at all thanks to the digital tool created by LifeLock and the National PTA. It is a new, free resource for families that helps parents have clear conversations with their kids about using technology.

The tool lets you pick a topic and then allows you to set up rules WITH your child. By agreeing to the terms as they’re being made, everyone is more likely to stick to them.

Chesney and I focused a lot on screen time as this is a topic we both have issues with. Between laptops, desktops, televisions, iPods, iPads, phones, Kindles… it seems we’re always looking at some sort of screen.

We negotiated a bit and decided a maximum of 2 hours a day was reasonable for her. We were both satisfied with this and agreed that she would keep up with how long she’s on her devices or in front of a screen.

Also included in this contract was where the devices are stored while not in use, the times they are allowed, and who is in charge of keeping track of the time. She knows that these will be the same rules at her Dad’s house. (Thankfully, her dad and I have an excellent relationship and he’s totally on board with these rules too.)

Once everything is set, you print and sign a ‘contract.’

You know it’s serious when she sticks her tongue out. ;P

We hung our official family agreement on the fridge to remind us to uphold our deal. We even printed an extra copy for her dad to sign and hang on his fridge.

Developing a healthy relationship with an online lifestyle is important for everyone; especially kids. Personally, I can get completely lost in the world wide web and it scares me to think where kids end up if uneducated or unsupervised.

Kids are spending countless hours using devices and on the Internet–92 percent of teens report going online daily, with 24 percent of those teens going online “almost constantly.” –Pew Research Center

Visit the Smart Talk site to check out the online safety resources and create your own personalized family contract to encourage healthy digital habits. 

Which part of online safety is your biggest concern?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.