I get asked all the time - and I do mean all the time - for a good way for parents to monitor and control their children's smart devices. You know, questions like: "How do I get my kid off their smart phone when it is time for bed?!!"
Well, for starters, I remind parents that the device belongs to the adult and not the child so bed-time means bed-time and off the device they go! Of course, being a parent myself, I understand the issue of picking which battle I will have with my eleven-year-old son. With that in mind, I recommend a fantastic little app that I was introduced to by Dr. Eli Shapiro, the director of the Digital Citizenship Project. (I will be doing a blog post on Dr. Shapiro's program in a future blog but you should check out his site.)
And that app is... OurPact! www.ourpact.com
What I like about Our Pact is that in order to set it up, the parent needs to have a discussion with their child to create guidelines and rules for the use of the smart device! Wow... parents and children communicating with each other - imagine that!! (sarcasm intended!! :-)
Now, as any parent can tell you, as their kids get older, they tend to challenge and test their limits more and more. Screen time, allowed apps, bedtime, etc. Especially teenagers! Can you begin imagine the conversations that happen when we have to contend with our kids driving? Talk about major parental angst!!!
Well, that was the gist of the panicked email that I got from a reader with a teen aged daughter who had just got her driver's licence. The parent said that they have a great relationship with their child, but they were concerned about being able to keep track of their young adult. They wanted an "OurPact" for their car.
In my books, NOTHING replaces dialogue and building trust with our kids but my challenge was to find something that this parent could use to keep track of their budding young Indy 500 driver and if you think that OurPact is cool then, as the title of this blog indicated...
Introducing (Dum, Dum, Dum...)
The HUM app... (www.hum.com)
Rather than write about it, I will let the hilarious video below explain it all.
To be fair, that is not ALL that this app does... it lets you know about car maintenance, roadside assistance and emergency aid but... regarding the monitoring piece... what do you think? Are we being too invasive with our children? Is this going too far?
It is questions such as this that I hope to discuss at the upcoming
CIJE STEM/STEAM and 21st Century Ed Conference on Sunday, April 8th.
Mark it on your calendar. There is no charge but registration is required.
Here is a link to a preliminary flyer with some details. I hope to see you there!
As always, I solicit your comments on the blogsite.
Yossie
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