How to teach your children to use technology responsibly

How to teach your children to use technology responsibly

At Christmas and Three Kings it is common to give gifts to children and technology has become, in recent years, an option chosen by many parents and relatives. However, if you want to give a Smartphone, a Tablet or a computer to your son or daughter, you must first teach them the use of technology responsibly. In this post we give you some tips to protect the little ones in the house and that they can use technology safely to learn and enjoy.

Advantages of responsible use of technology for children

An uncontrolled use of technology by children can cause isolation, stress or irritability, among other problems, however, when a responsible use of technology is promoted, benefits can be provided to children such as the following:

  • Increased intellectual capacity. With the games that exist online and with the challenges they can learn culture, history, science or values and increase their intellectual capacity.
  • Development of communication. Social networks or applications such as Skype or similar allow children to be in contact with other students and teachers, so that information is exchanged, data shared and doubts are easily resolved.
  • Learning languages and other subjects. Technology allows you to learn languages and other subjects in a simple way since self-learning is encouraged and you can access almost unlimited and updated content on any subject.
  • Increased research skills. Teachers can boost children’s research skills on certain topics by proposing questions for students to use internet search engines and find information to answer questions. The data they find can be shared with the class, both face-to-face and online (in forums or groups), so that participatory learning is enhanced.

Tips for the responsible use of technology by children

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So that children can benefit from the advantages we have detailed and make responsible use of technology, you can follow a series of tips such as the following:
1. Help them use digital resources designed and validated by experts. It is important that both parents and teachers of the school select technological resources designed and validated by experts, so that they are specially made for children according to their age and their abilities and abilities.

2. Limit usage time. Depending on the age of each child, it is advisable to limit the time of use of computers, mobiles and tablets. The natural thing in children is that they play with other children, that they share, that they explore and that they have fun outdoors.

3. Haz que el aprendizaje y el juego estén siempre presentes. Cuando un niño o niña aprende jugando el conocimiento permanece durante más tiempo porque lo asocia a algo divertido. Por ese motivo es muy importante combinar juegos y enseñanza, tanto en internet como fuera de internet. Por ejemplo, se puede escoger un juego online para que el niño o niña aprenda historia a la vez que se divierte.

4. Apuesta también por otras actividades al aire libre o con otras herramientas. Los niños y niñas pueden desarrollar habilidades y adquirir conocimientos con otras actividades al aire libre como, por ejemplo, acudir al parque a jugar con otros niños y niñas, realizar una ruta de senderismo con la familia o dar un paseo en bicicleta.

5. Aconséjales para utilizar internet de modo seguro. Internet y la tecnología en general suponen riesgos, por lo que está en manos de los adultos enseñar a los niños y niñas el uso seguro para evitar situaciones de ciberacoso y saber cómo reaccionar ante determinadas situaciones de riesgo.

6. Sé su ejemplo. Los niños y niñas ven lo que hacen los adultos que están a su alrededor e imitan su comportamiento por lo que es importante servir de ejemplo y limitar el uso del móvil o de otros dispositivos para disfrutar de tiempo de calidad con nuestros hijos e hijas y prestar atención a lo que necesitan.

7. Aplica controles parentales a los dispositivos. La función de padres, madres y adultos en general no solo consiste en dar consejos o dar ejemplo, sino también en supervisar el uso de la tecnología por parte de sus hijos e hijas. Esto se puede hacer a través de controles parentales de los dispositivos, con los que controlar qué contenidos visualizan nuestros hijos e hijas o durante cuánto tiempo utilizan el ordenador o el móvil.

8. Look for content that applies values. Technology can also be an excellent tool for our sons and daughters to learn values such as respect, equality, empathy or solidarity. To achieve this, we can look for games or content that focus on these values and that make our sons and daughters evolve and develop as adults with ethics and principles.

9. Don’t use technology to reduce your child’s stress or anxiety. There is an image that has become common: a couple with a small boy or girl sit in a restaurant and if the child cries they give him a mobile to entertain him. In these cases, technology is used to reduce the child’s stress and it is necessary to consider that children must learn to manage their stress, that not everything can be immediate and that there are periods of boredom.

In short, the responsible use of technology promotes a safe and broad education of knowledge, but control and supervision by parents and teachers is necessary to obtain all the advantages that technological innovations bring and avoid disadvantages.

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