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

We don't set limits but encourage our children to participate in a variety of different activities. E.g. After school clubs, sports (swimming, football etc), having friends over, family outings etc. Homework always has to be done and handed in when due, otherwise they have to do that instead of their recreational activities

We've never allowed any technology in the bedroom. When they were smaller they were only allowed an hour apart from homeworks that had to be researched or written on the computer. Then realised that DD had discovered instant messaging... It ended up with having to police homework time, allow only an hour of tv, allow only an hour of computer games by which time it was almost bed time anyway, by the time tea had been eaten. They were allowed to read in their rooms until they went to sleep, once they were too old to want to be read to. As a result they are both excellent spellers and good at English.

Yes, the technology is taken away for a punishment. If I don't trust what they are up to, earplugs get confiscated too so that I can hear what they are doing.

DS 4 uses the iPad a lot. Limits are not set.
He watches programmes on Netflix:-
Dinosaur documentaries, Umizoomi- good for maths, Dora- good for Spanish (which he does in school).
As well as age appropriate cartons like Caillou and Max and Ruby.
Youtube- watches clips about farm and building site machines
Apps- phonics/writing

He does reading and writing practise for 'homework' each night. He is also read to- fiction and non-fiction. He has swimming and gymnastics (1 night each after school) and we go on bike rides and visit places at the weekends.

I think he needs down time as he has a full and busy life, so he watches up to 3 1/2 hours some days. 1/2 hour in morning and 4-7pm after school- of course he plays alongside this.

I don't set a limit but I seem to be very fortunate with a teen dd who self limits. No idea how that happened but she's a do homework first person and although she loves the ps3 she spends more time reading or doing other stuff than I do and only watches about 2 hours of tv a week.

As dd gets older the amount of time she spends online is increasing, and it is becoming a concern. We've put in place time limits such as a time in the evening that ipod or ipad has to be switched off by, yet still we get 'just a bit longer....can I just finish this... I really have to...' etc etc.

Dd mainly plays games, but what hasn't helped is she has just moved to secondary school where all pupils have to have ipads, and I fear that she will soon have to have the blasted thing surgically removed. It's made it harder to regulate, as I don't know if she's doing homework or playing games without constantly hovering over her shoulder which is not encouraged by school, and I don't have the time to do (if we are to eat dinner, wear clothes, not live in a hovel, etc).

We have a time limit of 2 hours each day for dd13, sometimes a bit more at the weekend. We have software installed that automatically ends her session after 2 hours.

If we didn't limit her time she would happily stay on the PC all the time. Unfortunately we struggle to limit the time she spends on her phone.

She mainly is on Minecraft or YouTube on the PC, on her phone she is mostly on Twitter.

She spends most of her time on these sites talking to her friends.

I do worry that she spends too much time online and that her whole life revolves around computers and the internet. It is very difficult to stop this when all her friends are on there all the time.

My DC (17 & 12) don't get set times online as they both own laptops and smart phones but i have spoken to them about online safety and have parental controls on my WiFi.
I don't allow the use of phones during dinner time and ask they keep chatting on fb to a minimum while doing homework, I feel if I didn't ask that then they would never do their work or we would never have a conversation.
As for apps and sites its mostly social media and game sites they use.
My youngest turns his off at 10pm and my eldest at 11pm on school nights. I have been known to change password on my WiFi if they break any rules or refuse to help around the house. I do feel its a privilege and not a necessity, although I'm sure they would disagree!

No set limits for our 12 yr old DD here either, she has a smartphone & TBH due to a few months without a school to send her too, monitored free reign on the social media sites have been a godsend as she's kept in touch daily with her friends, meaning that her eventually starting high school late, wasn't such a trauma for her as she still felt "in the loop"

We do monitor her internet use closely though, she has a YouTube account fir example & posts videos which others follow, we keep a very close eye on this & there are strict rules about what she can & can't post, which she understand,me have allowed early use of social media site & used it as a teaching tool for internet safety & have deliberately allowed over use when she's been away from school to prove the point that it affects sleep patterns if you use a screen too much.

We are lucky that she's a very mature minded 12 yr old & has taken all of this on boards & generally polices her own internet use very sensibly - though we too do ban all Internet use as a reminder that there are still rules that she abides by or loses out - I would change our wifi password too if needed, but so far haven't had too :)

No I don't set limits as exact rules but keep an eye on things, 2 of my children are self limiting anyway, one uses it to play games but also has a thirst for knowledge and reads and watches all kind of videos about anything and everything. The tricky one is my autistic child who is very lonely, it helps her settle, she has online friends and much more of an active social life than at school where she's badly bullied, it seems cruel to make her get off the computer where she's content.

with more and more school homework being set online its very difficult as they constantly need to be on the laptop, be it for research, complteting an assessment or even to just play, i always sit with my little ones when theyr on the laptop.
they have an ipad wich they use without constant supervision as there are just educational apps. Internet, facetime, email, imessage etc are all blocked.

Not so worried about them as me tbh

I've worked very hard to train DC (10) to self manage time on tablet/laptop games. He's managing OK, and accepts this in principle, though does tend to go over his one-hour (max) time limit - unless reminded by me.

What also helps is the huge hourglass timer I bought, which measures exactly one hour - However, it's also necessary to write down his start/finish times, as it's otherwise harder to monitor.

I point out to him that there are potential 'health and safety' issues re: staying online for too long - eg: eyestrain, RSI to wrists, lack of exercise etc. Also he's generally not allowed on a computer before bedtime, as I've heard that the bright light directly entering the eyes will disrupt the natural sleep process and he will take far longer to fall asleep. This is true in practice, in my experience.

My elder child has a phone which she self manages. ahe can go on the jnternet with this but she soesnt bother much as the acreen is so small. we listen to the radio, use the Internet at the library occasionally, watch YouTube when I give them a turn on my iPad. I guess I am comparatively restrictive as to how often they go on the iPad, but they get a really long turn when they do and they are allowed to do whatever they want. I poke my nose in and watch/ play with them and we discuss content (such as 'pArody') when issues arise. Therefore I don't worry a lot about the potential risks.

I encourage plenty of outdoor play when weather permits, and and let them go on the Internet once they have done their homework, chores etc. but they can play out as soon as they get home from school.

Access to the iPad for my four year old is restricted to 30 mins a couple of times a week, to sites such as ceebeebies, and apps such as dino dig. These sites/ apps are ones that we have per-vetted. Access time is limited due to concerns that prolonged use could negatively effect behaviour.

DD is only 5 but very tech lliterate. She hardly has any time for the laptop/tablet anymore since she started school so there's not really a concern atm. However, pre school she could get easily hooked on to laptop/tablet that we felt we'd just lose her.

We got the kids a tablet to play on because they would be constantly taking my phone to play on or as soon as someone turned the laptop on, they'd want it.
I downloaded lots of kids apps on it for them but they still don't appeal to her as much as YouTube does. Problem with YouTube is that as soon as one clip finishes, suggestions come up at the end and one always leads to another. I try keeping YouTube as a treat and sometimes I do turn WiFi off so she'll play with the downloaded apps. Have also gone through a phase where I've only allowed the tablet/laptop as a reward.

~ Did you have to set a time limit or does your child self manage?
The teenagers set their own limit now but I don't allow ds3 (8) to go online in the mornings at weekends or holidays unless we are going to be out all afternoon and evening.

~ Why do you set time limits and what do you think your child would do if you didn't?
Ds3 would be online all the time if I allowed it.

~ What sort of sites or apps does your child spend the most time on?
Mostly games ds3 loves Minecraft and watches Minecraft videos on you tube. He also uses it for research and educational apps (squeebles, oxford reading tree)

~ Are you concerned about the amount of time they spend online or is it not a concern to you?
I'm not concerned. By the time they go to school, do homework, music practice, swimming, eat meals and sleep there's not too much time left for anything never mind the internet.

~ Do you have any rules re time online or any techniques or tips for dealing with it?
Only, as I said, no internet in the mornings. There all pretty good at switching off when I ask them.

Did you have to set a time limit or does your child self manage?
we set time limit of 30 mins on mon, weds, fris. Weekends they can have longer first thing in the morning. up to around 2-3 hours.

~ Why do you set time limits and what do you think your child would do if you didn't?
My child would spend the whole of their home life online!!! We need to set a limit.
~ What sort of sites or apps does your child spend the most time on?
Gaming apps and websites. eg they love moshi monsters, also lots of other games they dip into.
~ Are you concerned about the amount of time they spend online or is it not a concern to you?
Yes - concerned that if not monitored it quickly creeps up as it is such a good 'babysitter' for parents to use when they need their kids to be quiet for a while.
~ Do you have any rules re time online or any techniques or tips for dealing with it?
Just need to stick to time limits and also they lose their online time if they've misbehaved.

~ Did you have to set a time limit or does your child self manage?
We have a rough guide of no more than 2hrs screen time daily, but some days we have none and some a little bit more than that!! To be honest though, if it's more than that for a couple of days, DC gets bored anyway.

~ Why do you set time limits and what do you think your child would do if you didn't?
Screen time is a great learning tool, but there's a whole world out there to discover too. Its just about balance.

~ What sort of sites or apps does your child spend the most time on?
Cbeebies app, Charlie Bear and anything with dinosaurs in it!

~ Are you concerned about the amount of time they spend online or is it not a concern to you?
No, as DC is very young and it's easy to limit it.

~ Do you have any rules re time online or any techniques or tips for dealing with it?
He's only unsupervised with the leap pad, which has a strong child lock. We watch what he's up to on the ipad (to stop him buying stuff as well as seeing stuff!)

I found it really sad when my two, now aged 16 and 17 had friends at primary school with mobile phones and TV's in their bedrooms and stacks of Nintendo/ps games................we didn't give our children mobile phones until they needed them, to come home from school independently age 11 from 'big' school.
then we slowly introduced Nintendo ds which they loved and them my son had a ps, all bought second hand and he loved it all but we always limited it so it was a reward, not a right.
They didn't have facebook til they were 14.
I hate facebook and don't know why we all need to get constant feedback for a daily dull comments. However, I have just, literally this week discovered mumsnet, love it!!!
We took their phones away at night when they went to bed until they left school and my 16 yr old still has a timer on his laptop to go off at 11 on college nights. and some blocks from the obvious websites!!
It seems that we are quite unusual but I do believe that, just because they live in a world of technology, it doesn't mean they should be saturated from a very young age.

I have four children, aged 19, 17, 15 and 8. Nowadays, the older two totally self-manage the amount of time they spend with technology as one is at uni and the other is studying A Levels. All three teenagers have smartphones (19 year old has just taken over her own contract) on a monthly contract with a data package included. I, personally, have noticed a definite gender difference - the 17 year old is a boy, and is far more into using technology than any of his sisters - he has an iPad and a recent model of smartphone and spends a reasonable amount of time on them. The two girls use their smartphones to watch videos, play games and stay in contact with their friends. I don't specify the amount of time my 15 year old is online, but I do make sure she finishes her homework first and also that her phone is switched off before bedtime. My 8 year old has a tablet and uses the computer at home. She uses both in the lounge and doesn't spend too much time on either - she is very active and, if the weather is fine, she would rather be playing out in the garden. She does use the internet to research topics for her homework (particularly termly projects) and some of her homework is actually set online - she uses a site called Mathletics to do maths homework. She has had this type of homework since she was in Year 1, so it would be very difficult for her not to have any internet use.

Overall, I have always maintained a few rules at home. I have parental controls on wifi and TV and do not share the pin with the children (on the odd occasion they have needed to access something restricted (which we couldn't understand why it was restricted) we would input the pin ourselves. Also, we have always kept the computer in the lounge, where it can be seen by anyone. I have always told my children that, if they ever try to cover anything up as I go past, then I would revoke their access to the internet. Finally, we have had conversations about security, both in general and online. I can't say that this approach is foolproof, but as a family, we find open discussion and getting the children to understand our concerns the best way to deal with internet security.

Floras 18 months and we let her use the mini iPad once or twice a day to drag and drop and play matching games - it's hilarious how she now believes the Sky TV is a touch screen

We have been rationing it back a little as each morning she goes hunting it - she has maybe 15-20 mins a day in total

But she loves Siri

My children are 12 and 14.
The only limit I set is that the WiFi is turned off at 9pm on school nights and there are no screens after that.
Otherwise my children self manage. They still do sports, music and drama so this impacts on the time they have available anyway.

I set the 9pm limit so that they get a good nights sleep and they can't sneak back onto ipads under the covers.

I am not often worried about the amount of time they spend online. SOmetimes the 12 year old worries me as he spends a lot of time online at the weekends

I go in to discuss other things to do eg baking, going out etc and it usually works

~ Did you have to set a time limit or does your child self manage?
We set limits.
~ Why do you set time limits and what do you think your child would do if you didn't?
DC are quite small but will on occasion sit transfixed if not prompted to do something more active.
~ What sort of sites or apps does your child spend the most time on?
Netflix, maths apps, puzzle apps.
~ Are you concerned about the amount of time they spend online or is it not a concern to you?
No, we manage the time spent online.
~ Do you have any rules re time online or any techniques or tips for dealing with it?
No YouTube unless a grown-up is with you. No tablet in a morning unless everything on the 'morning list' is done.

~ Did you have to set a time limit or does your child self manage? I have to set the time limit and always have
~ Why do you set time limits and what do you think your child would do if you didn't? because I think it's important for children to learn 'in moderation' generally and I think that with the wealth of Internet and things to look at that it would be very hard for kids to self regulate on something so inherently fascinating to them. My children would never be off it and it would affect their sleep, functioning, participation and school as well as interpersonal relationships
~ What sort of sites or apps does your child spend the most time on? snap chat Facebook netflix and lots of games
~ Are you concerned about the amount of time they spend online or is it not a concern to you? yes very
~ Do you have any rules re time online or any techniques or tips for dealing with it? perseverance. And parents replicating expectations if we ask Children to limit we should limit whilst they are awake and practising from what we preach. Accept that there will be an increase in behaviour and tantrums and don't give in. If using particular broadband providers either log in to the router yourself or ask a tech savvy friend - some routers allow blocking website by type or setting limits by device. Ask for the device before bed or keep it and then your child has to ask. Its led to tantrums from teens in my house but it means it stops it bring a routine and essential