Is it counterproductive to use too strict restrictions on online games? "Parental control" recommended by experts

Parental control is an initiative in which parents monitor and limit the use of information and communication devices such as personal computers, mobile phones, smartphones, and game consoles by children.

Recently, devices such as smartphones, tablets, and game consoles are also equipped with restriction functions to monitor and manage their children's safe use. Features vary by device, but range from restricting access to inappropriate sites, verifying your child's location, purchasing and downloading restrictions, and time-of-use settings.

Among them, this time, I will explain how to use parental control for the purpose of preventing children from overplaying smartphones and games.

Note that too strict restrictions will have the opposite effect.

Studies have shown that for adolescents, overly strict rules about internet use and parental surveillance can be risk factors for internet game addiction (1). In addition, a survey of children aged 10 to 12 years reported that their dependence on smartphones was so high that they recognized that they had more parental controls (2). From these studies, it should be noted that excessive parental control restrictions can promote dependence.

On the other hand, in order to prevent children's dependence on the Internet, it is important for parents to be involved to some extent, such as watching their children's behavior and discussing their use of the Internet, rather than being completely involved in their children's use of the Internet. I also know (3).

When using parental control, you should be prepared to use the parental control function as an auxiliary means while using communication with children as a basis, rather than relying on that function or looking absolutely at it. I suspect it is.

See also this article for more information on parental involvement in internet dependence.

Internet addiction and family relationships What we can do as parents

Use as monitoring

With parental control, you can monitor the usage time and time zone of the smartphone that your child has, the application you are using, the browsing history of the Web, and so on. On iPhone and iPad, you can check the usage status during the screen time. You can see how many hours your child uses your smartphone a day, especially for games, SNS, and other apps that tend to be used for a long time. Even with game consoles such as Nintendo Switch, you can check the time and games played by parents in the app during the day.

The recommended way to use it is not to let the parents know the usage time without telling the child, but to make time to check the screen time with the child about once a day.

I think that even adults have experienced that a considerable amount of time has passed when using a smartphone. Actually, it is difficult to subjectively grasp how much time you are spending. If you look at the objective usage time, you may notice that it is unexpectedly long. By making it a habit to check together, you can encourage your child to notice overuse.

Also, don't forget to pay attention to what is going well and what you are doing, such as the fact that the smartphone usage time is reduced on the day when the child works on studying, and that it can be used within the range of the decided rules. please. By making sure you're done, your child may be more willing to get along with the device.

If you continue to overuse, instead of blaming the child himself, listen to the child's thoughts and feelings, "I'm worried that I've been watching videos for a long time these days. What do you think?" However, parents and children should think together about improvements and increasing fun activities other than online.

Use as an aid to household usage rules

In order for children to be able to follow the rules set at home regarding the use of the Internet and games, it is important to create an environment that is easy to follow, not the spirit and guts.

For example, let's say that the game is decided by discussing the rule of 2 hours a day between parents and children. At that time, it is advisable to set the game console's Mimamori function to shut down with a little margin, such as 2 hours and 30 minutes. In the case of a game, it is difficult to finish at the right time in the middle of the game, so it is recommended to discuss with the child and set it with plenty of time.

If you don't make these settings and only make oral promises, the number of days that parents and children will extend "Is it okay today?" Will gradually increase, and the rules may be broken. In order to effectively operate the decided rules, please set the minimum parental control according to the rules.

Also, if there is a rule to end the use of devices such as smartphones at 21:00 at night, it is also effective to set the device to be unavailable at that time. It is well known that if you use your smartphone before going to bed, you will have trouble falling asleep due to the effects of blue light and being absorbed in games and videos. If you can use your smartphone or tablet at your bedside at any time, you may somehow touch your smartphone or react to notifications. You can prevent such a situation that you see it somehow.

However, as mentioned earlier, too tight parental controls can lead to other issues such as hiding your child and lifting restrictions, or lying to your parents. Therefore, it is important to tell your child in advance that you should consult with your parents if you have any problems or want to use it beyond the rules.

And, in fact, if there is a consultation that you want to extend it today or that you want to charge with the application, if you say "No!" From the beginning, it will be difficult for children to consult in the future. First of all, I would like you to listen to your child's feelings and thoughts without denying or criticizing them. After that, please consider the advantages and disadvantages and decide the correspondence together.

While communicating with your child about how to use smartphones and games on a daily basis, try incorporating parental controls well.

What kind of function is effective depends on the situation of each family and the characteristics of the child, so if you have any problems, please consider consulting with a specialist.

(1) Wu, C., Wong, H., Yu, K., Fok, K., Yeung, S., Lam, C., & Liu, K. (2016). Parenting approaches, family functionality, and internet addiction among Hong Kongadolescents. BMC Pediatrics, 16, 130.

(2) Lee, E., & Ogbolu, Y. (2018). Does parental control work with smartphone addiction ?: A cross-sectional study of children in South Korea. Journal of Addictions Nursing, 29 (3), 128-138 ..

(3) Martins, M., Formiga, A., Santos, C., Sousa, D., Resende, C., Campos, R., Nogueira, N., Carvalho, P., & Ferreira, S. (2020) ). Adolescent internet addiction – role of parental control and adolescent behaviors. International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 7 (3), 116-120.