Please share your thoughts with Vodafone on how long you allow your children to spend with technology each day: you could win a £250 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

To celebrate the launch of the new Vodafone family price plan (Red+) they would love to get you discussing how much time you or your DP/DH allow your child(ren) to spend with technology each day or what rules you have in relation to this.

Vodafone say "For some parents, the internet can seem like a bit of minefield and with new technology emerging all the time, it can be hard to stay up to date. If that sounds like you, worry not. Vodafone has put together some guides and articles to help parents maintain control and keep the family safe – find out more here"

"Vodafone has also launched a new plan, designed specifically for families. Red+ gives you one data allowance to share and you can even cap your kids’ data so they don't go over their limit. You'll get one simple bill for all devices, saving you money compared to individual plans, and you'll also get unlimited calls and texts".

The Vodafone Digital Parenting Guide can be found here: www.vodafone.co.uk/family

So please share on this thread your thoughts on this: for example

~ Did you have to set a time limit or does your child self manage?
~ Why do you set time limits and what do you think your child would do if you didn't?
~ What sort of sites or apps does your child spend the most time on?
~ Are you concerned about the amount of time they spend online or is it not a concern to you?
~ Do you have any rules re time online or any techniques or tips for dealing with it?

Add your comment to this thread and you’ll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 John Lewis voucher.

Please note your comments may be used by Vodafone or MN on Vodafone pages, social media or possibly elsewhere - please only add a comment if you're happy for it to be used.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

probably far too long but saying that he does pick up a lot of new words and signs from mr. tumble.

Did you have to set a time limit or does your child self manage? Self manage - he has a low boredom threshold.
~ What sort of sites or apps does your child spend the most time on? He's 5 and likes animated environments to explore eg Europress Peter Rabbit and Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendars. He gets bored real quick with edu games. He will play fb puzzle games on my account.
~ Are you concerned about the amount of time they spend online or is it not a concern to you? It's all offline.

I don't set time limits, but there might be occasions when I say that enough time has been spent on-line and my little one needs to find something else to do. To be fair the majority of the time she spends on-line is doing home work or quizzes. I have had concerns in the past about sites she has played on which I don't think are appropriate, such as dressing up games, and I am very conscious in supervising what sites she visits.

We started out very carefully restricting use on the laptop to 20 minutes each day, but then now they get homework that they sometimes need to use the computer for that is not practical so we have removed the restriction. I think that the previous restriction must have got them both used to not staying on the laptop too long though as they can happily go weeks without using it. Oldest son has an ipad but he is not allowed it in his bedroom as he would play with it all night! Youngest son is very much interested in the PS3 but as it takes over the TV he doesn't play it for more than half an hour on weekdays or an hour at weekends. Neither watch much TV.

1 hour per day bit longer on the weekends.

My son does spend a lot of time on technology, between his xbox and ipad but he is constantly learning new skills and we interact with him and play together. He is not allowed to play when it is meal times and he does lose time on these if he misbehaves

My little girl is just 2 years old and she likes my iPad but I only let her use it for games to encourage hand and eye coordination. She's allowed an hour a day, spread out over the course of the day

I will not allow my 4 year old on an ipad or phone but she plays on educational toys, vtech etc. My 10 year old spends a couple of hours a day on her laptop, for homework, games etc but i am strictly no social media at that age, a lot of kids do at that age but i find it a haven for bullying and filling there heads with things they should'nt see at that age.

An hour a day...maximum

an hour a day

my DS is 5 and DD is 10 and they are allowed 1.5 hours on weekday and 2-3 hours on a weekend. It' not set times but thats generally how long they get because we tend to be out of the house a lot.

freya is 7 and she has half an hour before school on her ipad and an hour in the evening luckily she is a very active creative child so gymnastics horse riding art club and playing with her toys keep her happy she isnt interested in tv so all in all a very well rounded happy little girl im very thankful :)

Until I say so!

if my 6 year old son has been good throughout the day, he is allowed an hour on the ps3 after tea and thats it

Extra homework is online so this gets done, then an hour on school nights, longer at weekends if the game is constructive and makes them think

We don't have set limits, at 13yrs old it is more on behaviour and homework - if this is done then we have no problems with him being on there, although i do limited it to one piece of technology a day! - computer one day - ipad another.

No limits, we use our tablets to keep ds amused whilst out and about, so it's as and when we need it

My 10 year old is allowed to play games on the iPad for an hour in the evenings on school nights and 2-3 hours spaced throughout the day on weekends.
He loves playing Minecraft at the moment.
He's fairly active as well and loves playing outside so he gets a fair share of both.

I am quite concerned as I work on the internet and worry that computers are replacing social skills - therefore I have set up restricted access on the home hub. The kids can only get only between 6 and 7.30pm on a school night. This is flexible at weekends and holidays though (basically as I am busy working from home and it means they don;t distract me)

My 1 year old DD is already very interested in technology, probably because of the nice colourful screens. Given that my husband is a commputer programmer I can see her having a knack for it so wouldn't want to keep her away from it as long as she is also getting out and about and doing other things too.

I don't set a time limit as such but monitor it and stop it if I think it is too much.

They normally spend time on kids TV websites. I'm not too concerned about the amount of time at the moment.

I'm also more strict during the week than on weekends

We allow are kids to watch tv or play on the iPad after their homework is done and we've had diner and before their bath, depending on how their being with the homework this could be anything from 30mins to 1hr30

He is allowed an hour after doing homework. He likes listening to music online

Both of our girls love playing educational games on the tablet. We have an app that restricts what they can play on which we have preset and it also disables the internet so there is no way they can go on or play with anything we havent pre checked. I would not say we stop them from playing rather than we encourage them to do other things that are more creative and active and we do lots of things as a family. i would imagine as they get older we masy have to put in a time limit or bounderies ie they have to do set things first like homework etc.

I dont have concerns as the apps/games we have are very educational and fun and i would say that at the moment they dont play on for very long more in car journeys etc .

I'm fairly strict with my two when it comes to technology particularly through the week. They don't have anything before school not even television, I don't believe there's any place for it at that time of the day. After school, they each have to practice piano for 30 minutes and read for 30 minutes and then complete any homework set that day. They're then able to choose if they want to play outside with their friends or play on their tablets, xbox or whatever but they generally choose to go out. If they decide they want to play on their devices, they are free to do so until we've eaten dinner as a family but not afterwards. After dinner it's family time which might include television if there's something we want to watch. I don't allow television or games on a tablet, DS or whatever in bed but they are allowed to and do choose to read or listen to an audio CD. Although I'm strict on this, I feel it's very worthwhile and my two will often choose other activities themselves. I think there's a risk that too much time spent in this way makes children forget that there are other things they can be doing which is a shame.