Raising Kid's in the age of the internet !

As a parent of children that are now your age (30's).  I feel that you as parents of children in this instant everything and online 24/7 have some real challenges ahead.

First thing, your kids are your kids and you are the parents. Don't try to be their friends. There is plenty of time for that when they hit their twenties.

Try to avoid using technology as a baby sitter. I truly believe that it is creating a generation of children that have very short attention spans.

Limit the time on phones, tablets and tv.  Force the kids to play together. If a fight breaks out let them solve it unless it gets out of hand.

Let them walk to school. Only drive them in bad weather.  Believe it or not it's actually safer for them to be outside than on their computers.

Force them to play outside. They need the exposure to the dirt and allergens in order to help prevent serious allergies.  We never had peanut butter allergies during the 60's and 70's. 

Put them to bed one half hour earlier than you want and offer them a chance to stay up an extra half hour if they read a book made of paper. If they don't it's lights out.  Did I say BOOK !   Not a tablet or phone.   Never have technology in the bedroom. There will be plenty of that when they reach their teens.

At a point around 11 to 13 years of age let them pick their own bed time.  I gave mine an alarm clock and  told mine that the first time they were late for school  or their marks started to drop, I owned their "bedtime" till they were 18. They were never late.

They have always had access to a computer and video games. We controlled every aspect of when , what they played for games, internet and tv.

We restricted how many hours a day they had access to the internet.

There are excellent child restricted wifi access devices. We have one for our grand kids age 3 and 6. 

This is the product ....    https://kidswifi.com/    It works perfectly.

The world we have today is going to be a lot more difficult to raise a child with technology. It's everywhere.

But you have to tell your children that you are in charge and that you will make the decisions. Don't back down on that. Kids will tug at your heart and try to manipulate you.

 Don't be a helicopter parent... Let your kids fail if need be but be there to help them up.

Take your kids camping and hiking.  It's good exercise for them and you !

Most important........ be the parent and not the friend !!