Our Family + Technology

Our Family + Technology, We have an almost 10 year old and a 6 year old in our house. Our 4th grader is required to have an ipad for use at school and for homework. She likes to watch YouTube videos of people playing Mine craft and finding cute pics of baby bunnies on the Internet. Our 6 year old is in Kindergarten is obsessed with anything Lego. He loves making stop motion videos with his Lego mini figures and watching similar videos on YouTube. Right now Batman reigns supreme. My wife/partner and I both have laptop computers and iPhones that allow us to work on the go and keep in touch with out of town family. Social media allows us to keep up with High School and College friends’ comings and goings.

So, with all of that going on we used some common sense to keep our family safe online. Since our daughter is required to have an iPad for school the school provides an “Acceptable Use Policy” for each student and their parent to review and sign. It spells our things like students are not allowed to download or install material unless under supervision. Or, the student will not send any personal information (photos, addresses or phone numbers) to anyone else on the Internet. We’ve also had some conversations with her about appropriate material and what she should avoid online.