Many parents are concerned about digital safety and too much screen time and social media while students are at home. “Stay at home” orders and recommendations to “socially distance” are forcing many families to suddenly rely on the Internet for work, school, socializing, and entertainment.

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‘Now, forced to be alone but wanting to be together, so many are discovering what screen time should be, [said Author Sherry Turkle]. It should be about learning and connecting. It should be humanizing… all those Zoom cocktail hours are good screen time. Even parenting coaches, once hired to draft strict screen-time rules for the family, are saying it is probably time to throw those out. ‘Be gentle with yourself,’ said Rhonda Moskowitz, founder of Practical Solutions Parent Coaching in Columbus, Ohio. ‘These are extreme times.’ - New York Times

15 Digital Safety Tips For Families During The Pandemic

The Smart Social team also reached out to 15 experts for tips to prevent screen time addiction, depression, and other digital dangers during difficult, unconventional times.

1. Make a plan with your kids on screen time and digital safety

‍Alex Thompson, Director, Festoon House

The best first step to maintain digital safety is to communicate openly about it. It’s important to sit down with your kids, assess the need for increased screen time, and plan the limitations to what’s acceptable both to you and your kids. Here are the most important parts of that conversation:

• Structure your daily routines. Online classes have a schedule, so start from there and assess the times of day that your kid needs to be online. After that, look at the time slots when your kid can take a break. It’s ideal that the parent should also take a break at this point to engage with their kids during off-screen times. When there’s a structure, it’s easy for you both to establish a routine that works to balance out screen time for your kids.
• Ask your child questions. Kids, especially younger ones, really appreciate it when you display interest in their online activities. Ask them what kind of videos they watch or what kind of content they like to read. Showing you’re interested makes them more likely to open up, and it also makes it easier for you to spot digital dangers.
• Map out off-screen activities. Kids can get angsty when they have to turn off their screens, and that’s mainly because they don’t know what to do in the real world. It’s important that you give them some sort of activities, such as building a fort, reading a book, or playing a board game. I personally find board games to be highly effective in keeping their interest, so I stock a few at home.

2. Use the 3 C’s when talking about screen time health

‍Kriya Lendzion, Raising Kids in Reality Blog

When talking about screen-time health, I look at the 3 C’s: Clock, Content and Context.

CLOCK is the when and how much category, where everything has gotten turned upside down, and even the most awesomely conscientious parents are grappling with where it’s ok to tweak the normal screen-time rules without doing damage! How much a day and when have gone out the window, since our kids are anchored to screens to learn, interact with extended family, and to socialize right now. I’m talking to kids daily who are saved from their depression and loneliness by their ability to be on social media or gaming with their friends remotely. Screens still stay out of rooms at night, out of meal-time and intentional family time, but that one hour a day, one screen at a time rules may need shifting. SO…this is the C where it’s ok for us to recalibrate expectations right now and shift our focus to the other 2 that matter more.

CONTENT is what our kids are plugged into, which is where the greatest risk and damage can be. There’s a big difference between shows/videos/app activity inspiring creativity, critical thinking, education, inspiration vs. mindless flashing images, or messages of hyper-sexualization, pro-use, materialism, body image pressures, and access to predatory relationships. Ideally, we’re available to be helping them make meaning of what they’re consuming, before they unhealthily wire their own. This is where parental controls and monitoring programs/apps are key, where we’re not available to constantly look over their shoulders.

CONTEXT is why our kids are plugged in which is where we see an intersection with addiction. Whether screens are being used as just an option among many for fun/entertainment, coping, and confidence, versus whether they are just being used as a default/habit or are the only things our kids have that feel satisfying. Keeping this healthy involves us modeling purposeful use of all things screen, encouraging them to conscientiously ask why and pointing them towards/engaging them in alternatives.

As with all addictions, the key to addiction-proofing is 3-part.

First, empowering them with knowledge about how social media/apps/gaming etc are designed TO be addicting, pull them in and keep them there. Adolescents HATE to be manipulated, so use their own values to internally motivate them!

Secondly, guiding them to satisfying and accessible screen-free alternatives to meet their basic adolescent needs for 1) fun//entertainment/thrill, 2) confidence/competence, 3) coping skills for discomfort and difficulty, 4) belonging/connection. If there are deficits in those areas, screens (and the things that are on them: social media, gaming, sexting) can provide an easy fix that works to temporarily fulfill them, and thus dependence develops. Why would you not return to something over and over that works better than anything else?

Thirdly, teaching them the signs of an unhealthy/addictive relationship with anything, and encouraging their self-checking vs setting up a nagging/defending dynamic.

‍Addiction would look like some combo of:

• Creating problems, but they continue using screens the same way
• Becoming more & more central in their lives, taking up more time, energy, money, priority
• Feeling a loss of control over it: losing track of time, getting sucked in, trouble resisting
• Needing it to cope. It’s THE go-to when feeling distressed/discomfort.
• Withdrawal when screen-use is blocked/taken away: anxious, angry, irritable, lost, or bored.
• Tolerance: the high wears off from the same activity and the need to keep amping it up to experience fun/release/relief from it. Moving up to more graphic, violent, more realistic, faster scrolling

3. Download and use social media apps together as a family

‍Josh Ochs, Founder of SmartSocial.com

Being stuck in the house together is a great time to learn about all of the apps your students are using and download them yourself.

It’s okay to be friends with your students on these apps (and you should). But don’t overwhelm them by stalking their profiles or commenting on every post. Instead, ask your students to teach you about the apps and collaborate with them on posts.

Being on the same apps your students are on will help you see if they are posting anything they shouldn’t be. Make note of who they are friends with and encourage them to steer clear of strangers online. Have fun with your students, but also strategically work to keep them safe at the same time.

There’s been a huge spike in reports of online child sexual exploitation during the time of COVID-19, Forbes has learned… Some sources have linked the rise in online child abuse to lockdowns enforced by national governments in response to COVID-19. ‘Due to the confinement and the fact that now, everybody, including our children, are spending more time online means there is increasing exposure to these operators who are looking for opportunities to engage with them and to contact them,’ acting head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Center Fernando Ruiz told Forbes. - Forbes

During quarantine, [the parental control monitoring app Bark has] seen a rise in online predators and their referrals to law enforcement have risen by 23%… ‘We attribute this jump to children being at home and on their devices upwards of eight hours per day since shelter in place began in mid-March. The reality is that kids can be abused online, even when they’re just in the next room. Kids can be subjected to graphic sexual content, overt manipulation, and sometimes even violent threats from people who are trying to intimidate them into doing what they say,’ [explained Bark’s Chief Parenting Officer Titania Jordan.] – Psychology Today

4. Educate yourself so that you can educate your kids on the dangers of the web

‍Daniel Demoss, Founder, Dumbbells Review

Just because your child has to spend extra time online due to school homework, it doesn’t mean it has to be unsupervised. The best way is to set boundaries and time limitations for after school time. When your child is doing homework, you can set a time limit according to the task given to them that they need to complete their work by then. This helps to prevent no extra time other than the required task being spent.

Moreover, for leisure time which may include video games, you can set a time slot of 1 or 2 hours which should be more than enough for the child to relax.

Above this, I’d suggest that since your child spends so much time over the internet and on smart devices throughout the day, parents should also set the rule of no phones at the dinner table. The purpose of this rule is to ensure quality family time and to not let children become too dependent on smart devices.

Another tip for parents under such circumstances would be to educate themselves on online safety tools to protect their children from harmful content. Safe Search is one such tool that parents can make use of. Most browsers and search engines have this tool usually available under the Settings menu. Communicate the concern. Instead of treating your child like a black sheep, it is always best to communicate your concerns with them. It gives them a better understanding of where you are coming from and they become more open to listening and accepting what you have to put on the table.

If you constantly just restrict them without communicating the reason behind it, chances are the child will act in an opposite manner by going against you and considering you as their enemy – which is the last thing any parent would want. Tell your child about what you notice on the internet, the change in behavior that you have noticed, and how you are concerned for them. At the same time, also leave some room to hear out your child so that the communication is a two-way progressive road, and not just a one-way path that they are being forced on.

5. Consider introducing your child to robotics and other STEM industries

‍Mark Coster, Owner and Chief Editor, STEM Toy Expert

Screen time addiction is a serious rabbit hole that can cause mental health issues in children of all ages, and even in adults. Of course, parents can’t keep their kids’ screen time in check at all times, particularly during the pandemic, when they have to spend significant portions of each day working from home.

So the best way to turn screen time into a productive activity is to get them into robotics. If they have to use their phones nearly all the time, let it be for learning! These days, there are affordable robotics sets that harness the power and versatility of our smart devices for coding and programming. These sets typically have three playing stages, all of which are immensely beneficial. The first stage of building robots will keep your kid away from the screen while developing important engineering skills. The second stage is coding and programming of various behaviors, which allows for customization of these robots. Children who really get into this will likely enter the third stage too – connecting with the communities and participating in online contests and competitions. This will allow them to network and build strong, meaningful relationships with their peers. Best of all, once they get a chance to try it, most kids tend to fall in love with robotics – even if they aren’t very much into STEM!

6. Implement mandatory breaks that include exercise, chores, or cooking

‍Vickie Pierre，CarInsuranceComparison.com

为了帮助孩子限制屏幕时间，父母能做的最好的事情之一是 “强制执行” 强制性休息时间。知道孩子可能需要花费数小时参与在线教学，这无疑是一项挑战。但是，全天创造休息时间的简单举动将有助于为孩子创造急需的精神缓解。

这可以很简单，比如让你的孩子每小时起床在房子里走来走去。带狗去散步。安排一些简单的琐事，例如洗碗、做饭或打扫浴室。想出一个简单的锻炼程序，比如做一些俯卧撑、仰卧起坐或跳千斤顶，孩子们可以每天全天做这件事。

家长和孩子可以共同制定手写的时间表，或设置闹钟以确保他们维持这些预定的休息时间。 你也可以记录下休息的频率，如果他们坚持自己的日程安排，则选择在本周末提供少量激励措施。

说完了，孩子对技术的依赖程度越低，他们产生依赖性的危险就越小。

7。积极利用停机时间屏幕时间

‍艾米·奥尔森，《绝对约会者》

让您的孩子花时间观看正面视频或在线阅读教育内容。并非所有的屏幕时间都必须是坏的或有害的。例如，你可以让你的孩子观看更多的职业咨询课程或与他们的爱好相关的视频。 这将使您的孩子优先考虑他们的屏幕活动。

限制孩子访问社交媒体的另一种方法是在他们的日常生活中引入其他非屏幕活动。鼓励您的孩子走出去玩户外游戏，花时间阅读，花更多时间陪伴家人，培养他们的爱好。这有助于他们远离屏幕，这样他们就不会沉迷于屏幕。

8。平衡动手学习和数字学习

‍克里斯·德鲁博士 Helpfulprofessor.com

孩子完成在线任务后，可以考虑鼓励他们进行具有教育意义的实际动手学习活动。例如，如果他们已经在网上完成了数学测验，则可以让他们使用代币或笔和纸来演示同样的工作，将知识从在线转移到 离线 上下文。

根据美国儿科学会的数据，尽管限额很重要，但目前的使用量可能会增加。然而，一些专家说，在这种特殊情况下，父母不应该对自己过于苛刻。没有关于在全球大流行期间如何管理家庭的官方剧本。波士顿儿童医院媒体与儿童健康中心主任迈克尔·里奇博士说，只要父母能与孩子保持联系，让他们全天参与线下活动和学习机会，那么 “孩子们就会没事的。” -《波士顿环球报》

9。寻找使用技术的积极方法

‍Holly Zink，技术和网络安全专家 保障

科技并不总是坏事，尤其是当它用来联系家人时。无论是他们最喜欢的堂兄还是他们的祖父母，都要鼓励你的孩子 与家人视频聊天。它不仅会让你的家人振作起来，还能振奋你所打电话的人的精神。

10。不要在社交媒体上过度分享

‍首席执行官保罗·利普曼 斗牛卫队

确保隐私设置仅限于可信的朋友和家人。这会 保护您免受窥视和网络罪犯的侵害 他们经常在这些网站上搜索社会工程骗局的受害者，或者寻找有关他们已经选择的目标的信息。

网上购物要小心。 网络钓鱼、垃圾邮件和带有恶意链接的网站旨在窃取您的信息。 通过确保网站的合法性和创建难以破解的密码，享受更安全的在线购物体验。

还可以监控在线游戏。许多游戏都有在线组件，其中包含可以用真钱购买的游戏内附加组件。 家长应为游戏注册目的设置一个特定的电子邮件帐户 确保将保存地址、联系信息以及社交媒体或网上银行信息的电子邮件账户分开保存

11。与学生就数字安全进行对话

‍帕特里夏·韦尔西洛，史密斯培训中心和史密斯调查局副总裁

我们生活在一个几乎每个孩子都有自己的平板电脑、笔记本电脑或手机的时代。不要让孩子为失败做好准备，让他们对最终可能看到的情况或日后可能变得多么脆弱做好准备。围绕什么是计算机病毒、在线隐私、网络钓鱼和社交网络礼仪等进行的最佳对话。

年幼的孩子，甚至青少年，都应该 了解密码的重要性 以及为什么它们不应该全部相同，如果不坚持下去，会产生什么后果。对于青少年来说，最重要的注意事项是，如果你不面对面地做，那就不要在网上做。就这么简单。你在网上所做的一切都会被永久捕获，以后会被用来对付你，即使是你已经忘记的事情。

当雇主和大学招生官通过他们的社交媒体账户研究候选人时，你的孩子应该知道他们在网上发布了什么。

这也开启了关于隐私设置的对话。如果你不想让所有人看到你去过哪里或者前几天你喝了什么，那就换个地方吧 隐私设置。这样，你只能与内心圈子里的人共享。

12。故意考虑屏幕时间

‍Shane Gregory Owens，博士，心理学家，PC

对屏幕被拿走的任何负面反应——愤怒、悲伤、发脾气——都是一个好兆头，表明你的孩子在屏幕上花了太多时间。在这些情况下，您的孩子的屏幕时间应该更加有限。请注意，这可能意味着你也需要调整自己的屏幕使用情况。这对你们所有人来说都会更健康。

家长应遵守他们为孩子制定的规则，即允许使用和不允许使用哪些应用程序。世界没有终结，看起来就是这样。相应地行事。 如果你不打算给你的孩子买一个 智能手机 或者在明年之前使用特定的应用程序，然后等到明年。

家长必须经常从屏幕上休息一下。它可能起作用 设定家庭规则 以及屏幕和非屏幕活动的时间表，并尽可能坚持下去。你越接近你的规则，对你的孩子来说就越容易。

对于孩子来说，了解他们和成人有不同的规则也很重要。当孩子可以或不应该在屏幕上工作时，父母可能需要花时间在屏幕上工作。在这种情况下，家长必须意识到这一点，可能需要加倍努力强化孩子的力量，使他们远离自己的屏幕。你将来可能会有 Candy Land、Chutes N Ladders 或 Monopoly 马拉松。

另外， 故意考虑屏幕时间。 像家人一样一起使用屏幕，与朋友和家人保持联系。如今，屏幕是一种宝贵的资源，您现在有宝贵的机会向孩子传授屏幕访问带来的力量和责任。

为了对抗焦虑和抑郁，家里的每个人都必须起身移动，花点时间面对面。现在是开启早上第一件事家庭锻炼的传统，重返家庭坐下聚餐的绝佳机会。

13。监控家中电子设备的所有使用情况

‍苏珊·哈特， mommyHighfive.com

注意孩子的学校在分配什么。这将帮助您确定每天在设备上实际需要多少时间才能完成学校工作。 在你的孩子做功课时定期检查他或她，将有助于你的孩子保持高效地工作。

考虑让你的孩子在课后和晚上向你检查他们的设备。孩子们只有在有访问权限的情况下才能使用该设备。如果你在不想使用设备时把它放在安全的地方，你的孩子将不得不找点别的事情做。此外，确保您的孩子晚上无法使用设备将有助于确保他们睡个好觉。

家长以身作则教得最好，所以 收起设备将帮助您的孩子知道这很重要。 它还可以让你花更多的时间在一起。

当你的孩子不花那么多时间在电子产品上时，他或她会做什么？这里有一些 离线活动建议 让孩子们在家做：

• 出门：新鲜空气和阳光可以改善情绪。无论你是后院还是街边的公园，你都可以在外面的同时保持社交距离。
• 发挥创意：拿出纸和蜡笔为照片上色。用乐高积木建造一个作品。拍电影或写故事。
• 学习一项新技能：孩子们可以学习各种不同的技能，这将对他们的一生有所帮助。任何年龄的孩子都可以学习如何洗衣服、做家务或帮忙做饭。

14。一家人一起制定数字安全和技术计划

‍亚当·贝尔，营销助理兼学生健康编辑 有教益的

互联网是学习的好去处，但是那里有干扰和危险！正在设置 家长控制 至关重要，在 Google 上启用安全搜索是很好的第一步。在这个前所未有的时代，保持一定的正常上课时间是很重要的。那意味着 学校不允许使用任何网站，在家中上课期间都不允许。

需要创建边界。但是， 别忘了和你的孩子谈谈互联网安全。 添加家长控制、过滤器和设置是一回事，但是就在线安全进行坦诚的对话将使您能够共同学习，信任他们对设备和技术的使用。例如，你可以说 “晚上9点之后不上网”。设定时间限制并坚持下去将有助于制定一个让你的孩子很快就会习惯的例行程序。

最好是 创造 共同制定计划。在网上决定你们俩都认为哪些是可以接受的，哪些是不可接受的。设定期望。教导您的孩子了解年龄限制以及他们应该或不应该下载的应用程序和文件。解释他们需要先获得许可。

15。积极应对眼睛疲劳和不良睡眠习惯

‍丹妮丝·托马斯，在课堂上占据领先地位

有些物理问题可能是由于计算机屏幕时间过长造成的。例如，数码眼疲劳和难以入睡。

数码眼疲劳的症状可能是眼睛干涩、眼睛发痒、视力模糊和头痛。屏幕亮度的设置应与周围环境类似。眩光会导致眼睛疲劳。如果您发现眩光存在问题且无法重新放置计算机，则使用磨砂屏幕会很有帮助。

但是眼睛疲劳最重要的是眨眼不够。专心地聚焦电脑屏幕会使我们无法像往常一样频繁地眨眼。我们将每分钟闪烁 10 到 12 次，而不是 15 次。这听起来可能没有太大的区别，但这就是造成眼睛疲劳所需要的全部。一段时间后，我们的眼睛可能会感到干燥或注意力不集中。当这种减少的闪烁效果持续一整天时，冠状细胞就会干燥，直到它们被夜间睡觉所取代后才能恢复。早上你会再次感到舒服。

你可以做几件事来帮助减轻眼睛疲劳。一个是 遵循 20-20-20 规则。每隔 20 分钟将目光从屏幕上移开 20 秒，注视 20 英尺外的某物。你可以设置计时器来提醒孩子从电脑上移开视线看向某个物体。使用眼药水也可以有所帮助。

晚间电脑屏幕的蓝光过多可能导致睡眠困难。来自太阳的蓝光使我们在白天保持清醒，但会影响我们晚上的昼夜节律。专家推荐 睡前一到两个小时暂停屏幕播放时间。 此外，还有一些适用于您的手机和计算机的应用程序可以设置为在一天中的特定时间（例如下午6点）自动减少蓝光，以开始减少光线曝光。

其他资源

如何高效地使用屏幕时间

YouTube 和 Tweens：家庭安全使用 YouTube 的小贴士

看妈妈说话：疫情期间改变屏幕时间规则

在本集 Mom Talk on the Smart Social Podcast 中，主持人 April Whiting 和 Jennifer Zumbiel 都是 4 个孩子的妈妈，他们有一个 关于在全球疫情期间改变屏幕时间规则的坦率对话 — 以及生活恢复正常后如何利用科技回到正常、健康的地方。

结论

在这个前所未有的时代，由于没有具体的指导方针可供遵守，你可能会担心数字安全以及担心多少 屏幕时间 你允许你的学生。但是，只要你继续参与他们的一天，注意保持健康的线上和线下平衡，你的学生就能度过难关。你也会的。