Internet usage for children

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dodo

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Trying to find advice on recommended time a child of age 10-12 yrs should be allowed on internet, currently house rules are no computer during school nights unless required for homework, so mainly Fri/Sat/Sun, would 2 hours each day be a recommended time allowance, now these kids do alot of running ,and other sports each week, so they get plenty of outdoor activity more than most,
 
I think it's a matter for individual parents to decide, rather than there being an optimum, "recommended" time. What you've described sounds pretty reasonable, especially if it's balanced by plenty of "real world" interaction, whether in sporting or other activities.

Your kids will of course insist that Johnnie or Sarah's parents (or "everyone in school"'s parents) let them have much, much more. As with other such pressures, stand firm and explain to them that you're not Johnnie or Sarah's parents and that you're sure they wouldn't expect to follow your house rules, any more than you intend to adopt theirs. I'm not one for Luddite, "the-internet-is-the-devil" stances, but I do think that reasonable curbs are necessary given the extremely addictive nature of the beast (and internet addiction is very far from being restricted to kids, btw!)

The effects of excessive online activity on young kids' mental and social development are only beginning to be reliably documented, IMHO. But ask any teacher what they think.
 
depends what you mean by "on the internet" or "online activity", if it's to play farmville all night then no way, but this morning my 3 year old asked me "What are we made of?", so we spent half an hour on the web together, to see the skeleton, heart, brain, elements, eventually getting to stars. It was great.

you can spend as much quality time on the web WITH your children as you like.
 
We concentrate on what the activity is, not the delivery mechanism. An hour reading the newspaper online is the same as an hour reading the paper that drops through the letter flap, just as Youtube equals TV and so on.
 
Print and TV are far tighter regulated than the internet.

Parents controls switched on, and parental supervision.
 
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