Parenting: Older Kids and Gadgets - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Technology is a challenge for parents today. We did not have it when we were growing up, and it really is a challenge. Our kids live in it. So, they have cell phones, and they have video games, they have computers, they have online access like we never had. Even with our older kids, though, we absolutely need to set limits. We need to set limits both with the time they can spend with a type of video games, with the shows they are allowed to watch, the type of websites that they are allowed to visit. We can resort to using external controls, you know, parental controls and consoles that turn themselves off. But, I want to teach our kids to internally monitor that themselves, and so, if we give them a limit, we expect them to follow that limit. I also think that computers need to be in public places, not in private bedrooms, and that cell phones need to be turned into their parents at night. They do not get charged in the kids’ bedrooms, they get charged in the parents’ bedrooms. So, set the limits, and again, have rules and consequences. Allow the use of technology, but be a close supervisor. As they prove to you that they can handle it, you can back off and give them a little more independence.
