There are so many challenges when it comes to being a parent to a pre teenager and connecting with them especially in this digital age. So many of the pre-teenagers are exposed to all sorts of stuff online.
Most of them spend a lot of time online via their smartphones, this makes it more necessary for the parents to create some time for some open and candid talks more so on how they spend their time online.
From studies done on this matter, this is not happening at the rate that is adequate in this digital age. Only a small share of the parents has confirmed that they have at any given time talked to their teenagers on what they do on the internet.
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This has given so many teenagers a lot of freedom on the internet without any kind of parental advice. This trend is so worrying.
The pre teenager’s exposure to the internet has led to increased rates of cyber-bullying and sextortion. This makes parenting a pre teenager a nightmare to many of the parents in this digital age.
7 Tips on parenting pre teenager age
Here is a list of tips on parenting pre teenager age in this digital age.
1. Start talking to your children early enough
There will never be that perfect time to start the conversation! Start it today early enough as they grow to know the pros and cons of being online. Make the talks a priority and plan them more often with your Preteen. Provide that much needed parental guidance and help them have a healthy online life.
2. Stay abreast with what is happening around the globe
Many parents are ever busy with their jobs and they tend to miss on the current and trending issues. This makes them feel inadequate when it comes to the required technical skills to stay in the same line with their children on online advice.
On your phones set alerts to give you the latest notifications on almost all the current topics. You can also become a member of groups that help parents in dealing with all their children at this age.
3. Establish clear electronic device rules and guidelines
You should stand firm against any unhealthy online behaviors by your child as early as possible, on top of this make them understand that there are consequences for going against these stipulations. Take the contract seriously and keep the terms consistent to make your preteen stick to them always and not see them as a joke.
4. Conduct Random Internet Searches
These will help you to get your child’s full names as well as the nicknames they use. Go as far as the location, the city or state you live just to be sure that they don’t have any private information they have shared out there.
Check all that they have been tagged in and what they have shared on the social media platforms. If you find any that is unacceptable, advise them to get rid of it.
5. Teach them how to set Safe Passwords
Safe ones are a combination of letters and numbers. You can also help know how to include out of sequence characters such as @, %, $, *, ^, &,! and more. Let them know they should not share these passwords with anyone apart from you and each account should have its own.
6. Teach them the basics
Let your preteen know that having a personal device comes with a lot of responsibility which they should have always. They should be respectful to all and always whenever engaging online as well as offline. A great rule of thumb to keep in their minds always.
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7. Teach them to speak up
If they come across any inappropriate online behavior encourage them to immediately report such-to you. Issues like cyber-bullying, sexting, sextortion, and more of the same should be reported to you as a parent which will enable you to seek further help from the website hosts. More parenting tips for preteens here.
Share Your Thoughts
There are definitely several ways on parenting pre teenager age in today’s generation. Here are few tips you could check depending on your situation.
Do you currently have preteens and is finding ways to blend with them while effectively parenting them? Share your experience by posting your comments below.
