Disclaimer: We have only been putting these rules into practice for 24 hours at the time of this post, so it could still completely fail. We are a homeschooling family with very different schedules/expectations than your family (even if you also homeschool) so tweak it to work for you.
Here was my problem (I'm pretty sure I am not alone here): my kids get too much time on technology. We define technology as anything that plugs in. All of these items are not inherently bad. My big worry is that I will unintentionally raise my kids to forget what it means to play outside and explore the real world (i.e. things that don't plug in). I recognize that some technology items are even educational and creative in themselves, which has made it hard for me sometimes to draw a line and limit time they use these items.
Our rules before Sunday's meeting: We had already set rules in our house that they earned their tech time in several ways. 30 min for completing chores. 15 min for having a clean room. 15 min for practicing guitar for 30 min. Over the summer we even gave them an hour for reading for an hour. The first problem was that I had a really hard time keeping track of who had how much time. Another problem was that they often decided they didn't care about the clean room or chores, and opted to read or practice guitar and just not get the other time. Or they would not do any of it and find a way to watch a sister use her time, or just ask if they could play an educational game that would make it hard for me to say no (yes, I know that I am essentially creating this problem). We needed to reset the rules and draw very clear lines as to what needs to be done before they pick up the tech, and what is considered "for school" and what is not. I also decided to use some language that helped them see that cheating on their time was the same as stealing, and the consequences would match the crime.
SO, I started looking for rules online. I found a ton of tech rule posts (I knew I wasn't alone!). But none really fit my family. So I read through the posts for inspiration and came up with my own list. I also found this free printable that I used to make technology punch cards from. I LOVE free printables!!
Here are our tech rules, nothing fancy and the only way they will work is if I actually enforce them.
- Technology is a privilege, not a right
- You will receive a punch card on Sunday night
- Once the holes are punched, your time for the week is up
- You may only use your card once your chores are done and your room is clean
- If you have any outstanding homework/schoolwork do not ask for time
- If you go over your time, you will punch another hole
- If you steal time you will punch 2 holes
- If you have no more time left, you will lose time on next week’s card.
- Watching your sibling means you punch your card too.
- We can take time away as a consequence for poor behavior
- You can get extra time for the following
- Practicing Guitar = 15 min
- Reading a non-school book for 1 hour = 30 min
- Reading to one of the non-readers= 15 min
Other things that we talked about in the meeting I think will reinforce our commitment to the rules. We spent a lot of time talking about the big picture. We talked about what kind of family we want to be, and we allowed the kids to have some input. More about family meetings in another post. I am really excited we have finally started these meetings and that everyone seems to be on board.
Feel free to use any or all of this, you may want to browse around pinterest to find other tech rules and create a list that works for your family. The key is consistency and enforcement. Time to put on my Tech Cop hat!
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