Our children have access to so much technology we did not when we were growing up (generation X here). Sometimes it boggles my mind to think about it all and wonder how I can keep them safe.
The amount of peer pressure and bullying on social media freaks me out as a parent. I never had to worry about it when I was in school.
My children are young and not at this point yet, but I know it is coming.
Still, as a parent who loves all things tech I have given all of my children tablets to use for educational games, and get them used to tech. I have given them these devices thinking they are young, I can control it. But, ha.. my six year old is already a force to be reckoned with when it comes to screen time. And, it’s only going to get worse.
Right now I can handle it, but I have seen how the screen time leads to arguing, tantrums, behavior issues and more. Knowing what the future holds, and the amount of apps and other social media pressures which are coming, I needed to find a way I could get a handle on this before it becomes an issue.
Welcome to unGlue. unGlue is an amazing app that allows parents to simply limit their children’s screen time.
An app is installed on your child’s device and then you control it with an app on your device. This allows you to track and control social media, apps, videos, games and more on you child’s device.
Here is a little more information about unGlue from unGlue!
- The founders of our app noticed that screen time management in their own homes was getting out of hand. They took a look around at what tools were available and were uninspired by what they saw.
- Most apps feed into the standard helicopter parent/parental control paradigm: they block access, they invade kids personal space and they discourage kids from learning important time management and responsibility lessons.
- Our app is not meant to replace basic parenting principles, it's meant to support parents and empower your kids to make their own healthy time management and screen time choices.
- We feel that teaching kids these lessons early sets them up well for dealing with device and free time management later in life.
- The fact of the matter is this: the best minds of our generation are actively trying to make the apps and the devices we use more addicting. unGlue acts as a buffer preventing your kids from being consumed by technology 24/7.
As parents using unGlue we can control our child’s internet access completely, and we can set the amount of time allowed for "entertainment time" daily on their device.
Our kids can see how much entertainment or internet time they have left, and they also can earn more time by completing chores or other activities we come up with as parents. They can even save unused time if we allow it.
Websites for educational purposes such as Wikipedia can still be used even while entertainment time is turned off.
The internet can be turned on and off at certain times which makes it easier to enforce bedtime and general internet usage.
What I love about this app is that we have total control as parents, but our kids can be involved and monitor their own usage as well. This helps them take responsibility for their internet time and make smarter decisions about their usage.
I also love the idea of using chores as incentive. This works well with my young children right now and I plan to keep instilling it as they grow older.
The internet and social media of today is scary to me as a parent. There are many challenges I never faced while growing up, and we are the first generation of parents raising our children in a digital world so completely different than the past.
Having tools such as unGlue to help navigate this invaluable.
Conclusion
unGlue is super easy to install and get started with on mobile devices. All you need is an app on your device and your child's device.
I am getting ready to install and test the unGlue Puck and the unGlue Home Monitor which allows further control to connect to non WiFi devices and control all internet traffic in your home.
A little more about Home Monitor:
The unGlue Home Monitor essentially mirrors your router so it can see and filter the web traffic coming into your network. Keep it running so your kids won’t be free to roam the Internet unmonitored.
Once I have these installed I will be reviewing the product further and sharing more tips and tricks.