Should Parents Limit Their Use of Social Media

We as parents nowadays have the opportunity to use tech to improve our lives. Increased tech usage has an impact on our daily activities, such as:

• Searching, learning, and finding proven information;
• Working and earning income;
• Investing;
• Paying taxes and bills;
• Monitoring our kids’ online behavior;

The Impact of Social Media Usage by Parents

Among all the benefits of tech usage, I can “proudly” say that we, parents, overuse tech to communicate virtually. Somehow we replace communication in person with online chats. We are attached to our smartphones in an addictive way at home and work. 

Because of our addiction to tracking what is new on social media platforms, we often ignore our kids and their needs. The consequences of our irresponsible behavior are family disharmony and weak relationships.

The point is that we parents must limit our screen time and spend more moments with our kids. For example, 87% of moms in the USA use Facebook regularly.

How Social Media Usage Affects Parent-Child Relationships

Parents are not forbidden to use social media platforms (thank God), but there must be priorities between working time, parenting, and entertainment. 

Mostly, we use social media and other digital apps to gossip about what’s trendy. That’s not the best way to spend time, but hey, Internet drama is the best! We must be conscious and aware of how our actions and social media usage affect our kids.

Communication With Your Children is a Priority

We can’t allow ourselves to be stuck with our smartphones. Our little cuties and their sparkly eyes need our attention and communication. We don’t want to miss our kids’ growth and let them face challenges alone. 

If we don’t limit our screen time, we threaten face-to-face communication, which is crucial for our parent-kid relationship. Our kids can either copy our behavior and overuse tech as well or:

• Isolate in their world;
• Lose trust in parents and depend on friends and others’ opinions;
• Bring wrong decision;
• Defocus on school and have no interest in the future;

The Best Time Spent is Family Time

Playing our favorite games or watching pointless dramas on smartphones decreases our family bonding period. Parents that are there for their children help their little ones grow into ambitious people.

But technology makes distracted parents, and that can cause problems in accomplishing daily activities. Because of this, we parents must be aware of the situation and spend our free time with our cutie pies.

Why Should Parents Use Social Media Platforms

We live in a world where ignoring proper tech usage can negatively affect our lives. Social media platforms are easy to use and relatively simple.

Using social media platforms improved our communication and digital skills. 

Now we can communicate with friends and family that live abroad (that was science-fiction 20 years ago). And it’s free!

Staying connected makes our relationships stronger. With our social media profiles, we can track the newest events and information about everything we’re interested in.

Parenting Support Groups

Social media platforms allow parents easy access to support groups where they can discuss and share comments on similar topics or problems. 

Knowing that you are not alone and your opinion is valuable is a blessing. But don’t jump into arguments. Two angry parents fighting is a really scary thing to watch.

Monitoring Children’s Social Media Activities

We can use the same social media platform as our kids and keep track of their activities (this totally isn’t considered stalking).

If we see that the content they’re sharing is out of hand, we can cut off their social media in just a matter of seconds.

Why Shouldn’t Parents Use Social Media Platforms

It is a fact that technology over usage can develop a negative impact on users in their daily activities. We, parents, get emotionally connected with a social media platform and the news we get, so we lose the sense of time spent on the net. 

Low productivity

Using our energy and concentration on online platforms hinders our ability to work and finish household chores.

Spending many hours chatting, playing video games, or watching videos negatively affects productivity and effectiveness during the day. 

So, when we can’t accomplish our daily plan because of our social media activities, we become nervous and frustrated because we have wasted all our day unproductively (24 hours just don’t seem enough). 

Decreased Family Relationships

Instead of playing with our children, we often gossip with our online friends about what some random celebrity wore to a show (although it is fun).

If parents spend most of their time in front of the screens, it will lower family bonds and strength. Kids will feel disappointed because parents won’t pay attention to their needs.

Balancing Social Media Use With Parenting

If you don’t want to lose your kids’ trust, set family rules to guide your children. Technology must be part of our lives but in a productive way. 

We must balance the time we spend on screens and with our kids. Our responsibility is to raise happy and healthy little people full of love and affection. So, follow these 7 rules of healthy parenting, to limit the time spent on tech.

• Rule number 1. When the workday is over, and you come home, hug your babies, and leave your phone in your room;
• Rule number 2. Prepare lunch and set the table together with your cuties;
• Rule number 3. Talk about the day and challenges we all face, give advice, and share experiences;
• Rule number 4. Play indoor and outdoor games;
• Rule number 5. Learn together and get ready for the next challenge;
• Rule number 6. Use social media together to stay informed for about half an hour;
• Rule number 7. Tell and read bedtime stories (and don’t forget good night kisses);

Conclusion

Parenting is the most precious profession. Our main goal as parents is to be there for our kids and meet their demands, to share time and thoughts, and to be there for each other.  Our kids’ success is a result of our responsible parenting. So, be a responsible parent! After all, you are raising your children, not your phones. 

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ALSO READ: How to Protect Your Child From Inappropriate Internet Content