Dear parent, manage your child's time online
To wean children off their gadgets, Nassolo suggests that parents should ask children to show them what they are doing online so that they learn how the apps work.
Set clear daily time limits. Children should not spend limitless time on gadgets. (File photo)
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One household in a Kampala suburb has a child who can’t settle unless they are given the phone to play games. They will scream, shout and then sulk when they are spent from throwing tantrums. The parents, out of a need for peace, then give in to their demands.
In such a home, which mirrors others in Kampala suburbia, parents are clueless as to how they can rein in their children and wean them off phones, tabs and other gadgets.
Some choose to even promise goodies if the children put down the phones and do something worthwhile like homework or chores.
“As a parent, it might be difficult for you to ban them from apps like TikTok and Snapchat,” says Julie Nassolo, a teacher and counsellor in a Kampala secondary school.
To wean children off their gadgets, Nassolo suggests that parents should ask children to show them what they are doing online so that they learn how the apps work.
She infers that children get away with a lot if the parents are unaware of what they are doing online.
He noted the following:
▪️Set clear daily time limits. Children should not spend limitless time on gadgets
▪️Plan offline activities, where they are engaged such as sport and reading
▪️Utilize in-built device parental controls, like Google’s Family Link. The Family Link gives parents access to manage children’s accounts and data settings
▪️Have a central point, where children put all devices at home
▪️Keep children busy; give them chores. Children don’t have their own mind, so parents need to guide them on what to do and how to do it
On that occasion, UCC was celebrating World Consumer Rights Day, and the regulator decided to focus on child online protection, of which parents play a pivotal role.