Online Safety and a Family Contract

Fifth grade is a big deal: it’s the oldest in the elementary school, getting ready for middle school, and this year, it means every student having their own laptop. While each year will mean another grade will get a laptop or a tablet, they started at the top. Which means that homework time in my house now looks like this:

There are all sorts of restrictions on the school laptop so the students are limited in what they can do, though not everything non-school-related is blocked. Since my son already had a tablet and a phone, and we’d had many conversations about what he can and can’t do, I just saw the laptop as a great teaching tool.

So far, my son has been really responsible with his devices, his phone really only being used to call or text me or my husband if he needs us, as well as playing a few parent-approved games or reading an e-book.

But, even with a responsible kid, I’m aware that he’s still just a tween and what I might think are some common sense things to do and not do, might not occur to him. With middle school looming, I know changes are coming.

We had a technology agreement, much like 79 percent of families do. But we weren’t in the 6 percent of families who had a written agreement, until recently.

It makes a lot of sense to have a written agreement, especially with tweens and teens whose very nature it is to try to test limits.

LifeLock, Inc., and National PTA® have launched a new, free resource for families that helps parents have clear conversations with their children about using technology and agree on ground rules together. Called The Smart Talk, this digital tool is designed to empower families to make smarter, safer choices online and help build the next generation of digital citizens.

It’s very easy to use. You do this with your child so you can have conversations along the way about what you both think is fair and why you’re making the choices you are. You can also choose the topics you need to set ground rules for, as you see below. We didn’t put all of these in our current contract, since my son isn’t yet on social media. You can tailor it to what applies to your child.

We set screen time limits, where devices are stored when they aren’t being used, times when devices aren’t allowed, what makes a strong password, who pays for apps, an app allowance, what song/movie ratings are allowed, and so much more. Even though we’d had many conversations about these things, The Smart Talk went really in-depth about all of it and allowed us to have a printed copy of our contract. Here’s part of ours:

Visit the Smart Talk site to check out the online safety resources and create your own personalized family contract to encourage healthy digital habits.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.