Raising children is the most beautiful aspect of life and what children learn in the early years leave a lasting impression on their minds. But parents sometimes feel overwhelmed in the ever-changing, ever-growing worlds of technology .Most parent’s today struggle to find a proper balance between keeping up, and staying ahead of the kids.
With gadgets like Tablets and smart phones that can access the Internet, kids are exposed to appropriate contents like sexting, cyberbullying; gambling , internet addiction etc. the list is daunting. Though we keep on getting updates on trends like child abuse on the net, games going viral, online threats, but what can we do to protect our children from these dangers. As a matter of fact we know that the generation is getting exposure to ever growing range of devices, they are more tech savvy than parents are, and above all we cannot keep the kids away from the technology advancement. But we cannot forget that there are a range of positive thrilling stuff in the online world that can create a wonderful learning environment for our kids too and the fact that these technology changes in most cases are there for betterment.
Helping children learn how to navigate their way in the online world is a complicated business and parents can feel exasperated by their lack of tangible technical awareness and capability.
So what can parents do to safeguard their children in this online world? As parents we should be involved as dynamic and open learners about the digital world, learners who can engage with their children in much-needed conversations about digital matters. Some tips that will help the kids navigate safely in the virtual world. There is a need to incorporate technology into our daily life parenting.
1. Set time boundaries for Internet usage , screen time and device use.
Parents need to set guidelines for usage of internet and device use before the problem arises. They should also be aware of the warning signs like spending too much screen time, social isolation, skipping outdoor activities, health problems like obesity , visual impairment etc.
2. Connect with your child – Get insight your child’s online activities by chatting with them and viewing their interest – communication is the key . Talk with them about issues pertaining to online security and safety.
3.Educate children about technology -Teach kids that technology is a tool, not just a toy. Start indulging into discussion with your children about how well you can use technology in a beneficial and positive way.
4. Teach the children about Digital footprints – Let them know that comments and photos are forever on the internet. . Educate your child that online activities stay available forever. Teach them some basic rules that they should not say or post something which is not nice, its better not to say something at all.
5. Donot get alarmed and panic if there is an online issue- There is no need to forfeit the devices of your children or immediately tell him to take corrective measures if they come with a problem. Never penalize your child for incongruous behavior. Use the problem as a guiding point and a communication prospect.
At eKAVACH we feel that childhood is all about exploration. The Internet is a powerful tool that is revolutionizing our children’s learning, communication and play. We firmly believed that there is a need to introduce kids to digital age as soon as possible and why hold them back from something that will inevitably pass them.
By restricting use of electronics and technology we are hampering the development of child’s physical, cognitive, and social skills. The Internet has also opened up the gateway to vast information like never before, and children are among the biggest beneficiaries of this open access. We as parents should not keep them away from the technological advancement going around us.
Just saying “no” rarely works with today’s generation. Physical monitoring the use or warning kids will hamper the parent and child relationship. We need to have a tool that provides parents a peace of mind while giving children needed freedom. It should aim to protect our children with encouraging trust and respecting privacy. This is eKAVACH .
eKAVACH is India’s most comprehensive digital parenting application as a service that is designed specially to increase parental awareness about their kid’s activity online and in the social media. eKAVACH is a unique parental control application for parents which offers families comprehensive safety in the online world and offers sufficient parental supervision over a child’s activities across various digital media to ensure focused learning outcomes and appropriate usage of social media. eKAVACH offers unique insights about the behavior and activities of kids, when they are online and on the move, which can help parents to make better and more informed decisions about their children.
Key parental control features of eKAVACH are :
- Safe online environment through content filtering and safe browsing – Prevents exposure to unsolicited & inappropriate content such as sex, violence etc by setting age-appropriate web category filtering automatically. Parents can also define appropriate content based on parenting style for safe browsing experience based on web categories and URLs
- Set Healthy Access Limit for Internet Usage- Aimed at internet safety of your children, this feature reduces internet addiction by limiting screen time per day
- Keep a tab over gaming and other applications – Reduces exposure to inappropriate apps, prevents excessive gaming and social networking as in Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter apps as parents can set healthy time limits. Parents can choose to allow/block any app
- Real Time Alerts & Push Notifications for boundary breaches – Can helps parents to mitigate any kind of risk and threat to their children. Parents can customize which alerts they want to receive in real-time. Receive SMS notifications if there is no internet connection.
- View Dashboard Stats of your child’s online activities – Enable positive parenting by analyzing the types of sites your child visits / tries to visit, type of apps he/she downloads etc. Take a step towards digital parenting by viewing these trends from your child’s activity dashboard and make more informed decisions about your child.
- Remotely Manage activities – Be a smart digital parent on the move – access the app from anywhere and anytime. Be it from office or on the move, there is no need to be physically around the child anymore for digital protection
- Device Heartbeat & Geo-location – Monitor child device reach through device heartbeat monitoring. Geo coordinates helps the parents to keep an eye on the physical location of their children for their safety.
- Family Relaxation Time – Gives parents the ability to define quality family time for meals or other family activities. All internet and app access will be blocked during these times to give kids a break
- Emergency Child Notification to Parents – Children can send a SOS message to parents from the child device in case of an emergency. Parents will receive message with geo-coordinates to ensure timely assistance is provided
- Communication with Parents – Child application also allows kids to send regular messages to parents to keep in touch with them any time of the day
ekAVACH does not aim to be a monitor or watch dog. eKAVACH aims to enables better parenting in a medium that is consuming majority of today’s children’s time – digital medium. eKAVACH provides a highly interactive, engaging and real time environment where parents and children coexist.
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