Ever thought about getting your children to sign a contract? A Christmas device contract could be a smart idea.
So, you are buying your kid a PlayStation, Xbox, Phone, or iPad for Christmas, and you’re really excited about how much fun they’ll have with it (and let’s face it, keep them preoccupied for some of the holidays so you can get your own stuff done!).
BUT - you’ve seen how other people’s kids are so obsessed with their devices to the detriment of all else, and you’re worried yours will end up there too.
The good news is that with some clear written guidelines in place, and with ScreenCoach to help support a healthy life-tech balance, you can keep screen time in check.
It’s much easier to set ground rules at the beginning of a new phase of your child’s life - such as purchasing them a new gaming device - than it is trying to rein them in after things have become out of hand.
Here at ScreenCoach, our philosophy is that we need to be in conversation with our kids rather than trying to simply dictate the rules to them - this is the key to screen coaching and to getting co-operation from your kids.
We have put together some guidelines to help you when introducing a new device into your home. Please change them to suit your family and be prepared to compromise if your child puts forward an alternative acceptable point of view.
Device Agreement with __________‘s new __________
We are so excited to gift you this device for Christmas!
We want you to have loads of fun with it, while also making sure you stay healthy and have fun with other things too.
So, we’ve come up with a few guidelines that we would like you to follow.
If you don’t stick to the guidelines, we will take your device away until you can show us that you can be responsible with it.
- You agree to use your ______ (device) for a maximum of ___ hours per day. Initial ___
- You agree to take a 15-minute break every hour you play. Initial ___
- You will not use your device before 9am or after 9pm. Initial ___
- You will use ScreenCoach as it has been designed to support you with a healthy balance - both the App and the Harmony Box. Initial ___
- You will not use your device when someone is talking to you, at the dinner table or when we have guests unless we give express permission to do so. Initial ___
- We will agree to give you a 15 min warning if we need you to hop off, and you promise to not start a new game or show etc. after the warning. Initial ___
- You will not play online with people you don’t know. Initial ___
- You will always treat anyone you interact with online with respect. Initial ___
- You promise to tell us if there is anyone you interact with who is not treating you with respect. Initial ___
By Stephanie Kakris has a Masters in Psychology and is a published parenting author. She is the co-founder of ScreenCoach, a combined hardware and software platform where kids are allocated a set amount of screen time, and after their time is up, they need to go and complete activities such as exercise, chores or non-screen play to earn more time before they can resume. Find out more at www.myscreencoach.com