Where you are

If their intention is to meet they will need to know a general location straight up so they have an idea of whether meeting is a possible outcome.

Who is important to you

This can be used to manipulate you. They can expose a secret, threaten to hurt someone you care about or embarrass you in front of those people.

When you are vulnerable

Timing can be the difference between them getting what they want or not. Knowing you are having a bad day can mean they time their approach to when you might react from impulse rather than with rational thought.

All of this information is easily accessible on social media

• Information can be gleaned from the account set up, such as username, bios, profile images and friends lists
• Further information can be found in photos shared by you or your contacts and comments made on these posts.
• Someone looking for information can find small pieces of information and couple it with information found in a different location, account or image to work out an important fact about you.

There are 5 main areas that are affected by overuse or severe problematic use (addiction) to screens.  They are a user’s:

• usage (affecting priorities)
• physical health
• social experience
• emotional stability
• behaviour

As a parent or carer of a child who is overusing screens, you may be feeling uncomfortable with their screen use but not really be able to put your finger on why.

We find that usually a parent/carer’s gut feeling is actually correctly telling them that some changes to screen use may be in order.

See attached guide to behaviours that may indicate an issue is arising.

Having clear boundaries around screen use can assist as a preventative measure to avoid overuse becoming an issue and/or as an early intervention strategy if things are getting out of hand.

The key to boundaries that will actually work is to ensure that they are written down for easy reference and that your child understands why they are in place.  We also find that involving your child in the process of creating a family agreement helps them to feel empowered to use technology responsibly.

During school time last year, we have worked with your child to educate them about the reasons why each component of a family agreement is necessary.

For your reference, some key elements are:

• A list of things that must be done before SOCIAL screen time is started (this gives them a visual reminder so that you don’t have to keep telling them.  On the back of our Screen Time Plan, we provide a checklist that you can laminate and get them to check off before they start social screen time)
• Clear appropriate times for social screen time.  (You will notice we have ‘pm” and “pm” in our plan.  We also suggest that children turn their hand held devices off 2-3 hours before sleep time.  The reason for this is that interactive screen use can trigger a high release of dopamine, which will make it hard for your child to concentrate at school, on other tasks, or to relax enough for quality sleep.  If you need your child to have the company of screens to assist with their routine, TV time in the morning or before bed might be a better option as a TV across the room doesn’t give the additional excitement of participation that a hand held screen gives.)
• A social screen time limit.  (how long in total can they play for?  We suggest a small amount of time that they get for completing their chores of priority list and then they can earn more screen time by practicing building skills or interacting with other people. eg play a musical instrument for 30 minutes, or play a board game with their sibling and they can earn an extra 15 minutes online.  This is your chance to encourage activities that help they grow and practice life skills)
• Breaks are important to keep their bodies moving, give them a chance to go to the bathroom or eat dinner and lift their heads – assisting their posture.)
• Keeping their own time.  (This is only of the most important parts of a screen plan.  In the past screen advice was always that parents use parental controls to restrict their child’s use.  It has now been evidenced that “self-regulation” is a critical learning step for young people to avoid addiction later in life. A child setting an alarm and getting off screens without being prompted is good practice and can be rewarded with more time later)
• Parental controls.  (It is still super important to apply parental controls to your child’s devices and social media accounts to assist them.  We suggest that you create the plan/agreement with your child and then apply parental controls to support them. Eg if they are allowed 1 hour of screen time a day, the parental controls kick in at 1.25 hours.  This gives your child the opportunity to be responsible and earn extra time)