Children and screens: awareness campaign and website

How do you settle parental controls on your computers and consoles, set filtering for certain social media content, or limit screen time? With 96% of French children now owning or using at least one digital device, the government is launching a digital parenting awareness campaign. It is also an opportunity to promote the site

Accompany parents in the use of screens

In response to the massive increase in the use of screens by young children, the government is launching an awareness campaign dedicated to digital parenting. This campaign is part of a study commissioned by the Ipsos Institute on the difficulties encountered by parents in adopting an attitude. The survey was conducted with a representative panel of 1,000 parents of children aged 3 to 15.
The campaign takes place on the 20the anniversary of the Safer Internet Day (Safer Internet Day). It is broadcast for a month on the web, social networks, television, through vignettes to make parents and children aware of the need for a weighted use of screens, drawing a parallel with everyday situations.
In particular, it highlights the recommendations of the High Council on Public Health (HCSP):

• avoid spending too much time on the screens in front of children;
• exchange with them about their use of screens and ask them about the content they consume;
• Set up moments of shared use of screens to create interaction.
• devote time to family and group activities;
• to obtain information on the technological tools available and useful for applying the desired uses (e.g., parental control), particularly for young children;
• Use the screen for a specific purpose and time.
• Avoid screens before 3 years.
• avoid screens while eating;
• avoid screens in the evening at least one hour before sleep onset
• avoid screens in the children's room;
• Avoid 3D monitors for children under 5 years of age.
• respect the ages for viewing movies (- 12 years, - 16 years or - 18 years) and the recommended age for using video games (3 years, 7 years, 12 years, 16 years or 18 years).

How to Ensure Responsible Internet Use for Children

The internet helped ensure that your child’s education was uninterrupted during recurring COVID-19 lockdowns. Everything from education to entertainment can be accessed online. But how can you, as a parent, make sure that your child stays safe online?
Be it mature or inappropriate content, financial fraud, or scams, or simply too much screen time, there are many pitfalls to online access and related safety. In order to safeguard their online experience, you can use parental controls, encourage healthy online behaviour, educate your child about cyberbullying, doxing, and other anti-social online activities, and promote open communication between yourself and your child so that they feel safe about trusting you or another responsible adult (such as a teacher) with their online activity

1. Use parental controls

Parental control digital solutions monitor your child’s internet usage, block inappropriate content and websites, regulate screen time, and allow you to effectively manage your child’s online activities. Norton Family, Kaspersky Safe Kids, Net Nanny, and Qu studio are some of the most popular parental control platforms.
You can track search and browsing histories, restrict access to harmful websites, and establish screen time schedules. Several platforms also have dedicated mobile apps to help you stay updated about your child’s internet activities, ensuring a secure online environment.
You should also set up a child-profile, use child-friendly search engines, and turn on Safe Search in order to filter out any harmful or inappropriate content.

2. Educate your child about potential online risks

It is extremely important to talk your child about the risks associated with internet usage. This can range from conversations around cyberbullying, trolling, and doxing, to online exploitation and extortion, misinformation and fake news, scams and malware, and inappropriate or harmful content. Help your child understand what information is safe to share online and with whom.
An open and honest conversation about the risks of internet use will make your child more careful online, help them to better identify potential threats, and feel safe communicating with you in case of any suspicious or anti-social behaviour.

3. Encourage healthy, responsible behaviour online

Promoting good online behaviour is something that every parent should be actively engaged in.
Explain to your child that every online action – be it a comment, a photo, or even simply liking or disliking a post – leaves a ‘digital footprint’. Before they do or say anything, they should ask themselves whether they would do the same thing offline. If not, then they probably shouldn’t do it online either.
Bad behaviour begets bad behaviour in return, online or offline. Toxic comments, trolling, or other unhealthy behaviour online by your child can provoke malicious responses. Teach your child to be kind and supportive online.