As children head back to school and the winter evenings come in and screens become more of a hassle for parents than ever before, the eternal struggle over screen time will feature in most homes around the country.
Adrian Weckler, tech editor from the Irish and Sunday Independent, spoke to Dermot and Dave on Today FM this morning about how you can stay one step ahead of your kids when it comes to tech.
So whether you have a child who needs an iPad for school or uses the computer for homework, check out Adrian's tips for tech safety and piece of mind.
Invest in software to monitor and filter kids phones-Adrian recommended phone and laptop filters like Net Nanny, Cyber Sitter and Pure Sight. You can also disable internet browsers and specific apps through the password-protected restrictions in settings and remotely control the amount of time that your kids use the phone for through features like Screen Time.
Consider a feature phone instead of a smart-phone-Phones like the Nokia 88110 in particular, they have internet access and a camera but not the ability to download apps so there'll be no battles about Instagram or Snapchat.
Don't worry too much about getting the latest iPad-If your school requires an iPad, Adrian has suggested that you can likely ignore technical requirements that often aren't needed.
Try to get more educated about social media apps-Parents should take some time to get familiar with the newest and most popular social media apps so they can discuss them properly with children. Think apps like TikTok or Snapchat as opposed to Twitter and Facebook.
Keep an eye on photo-based apps-be mindful of the impact they have on the self-esteem of kids.
While you might not be able to stop the rows, you might be able to avoid some of the dangers that are involved in the digital world.
