Monitoring Made Easy
Summertime & the livin’ is easy…unless you’re trying to keep your tween or teen engaged, productive & healthy until school starts back up again. There are many good camp options, of varying price ranges, for kids who’ve aged out of some of the activities they used to do over the summer. But even if you manage to fill up your kid’s schedule with plenty of enriching activities all summer long there’s a chance they’ll spend some time at home alone at some point. Set your child up for success by setting clear expectations and maintaining monitoring. The best monitoring is based on trust and staying connected. Here are some tips to keep your kid safe this summer:
- Find ways to check on your kids when you are not around, either with phone calls, text messaging or through a neighbor dropping by. Drop in occasionally, unannounced. The occasional surprise visit lets your children know you could stop by at anytime.
- Always know where they are, who they are with, and what they are doing.
- Keep track of all alcohol & other substances (including prescription medication) in your home.
- Make your no-use expectations clear. Some families like to create & sign contracts with their no-use policies and consequences.
- Share your no-use expectations with your kid’s friends and their friends’ parents.
- Know that adolescents need to have fun and take risks. Provide opportunities for safe risk-taking throughout the summer.
- Alone time often means screen time for many adolescents, so be sure to set reasonable limits & expectations. Talk to your kid about being a good digital citizen. Wondering how to protect & monitor your teen or tween online? Here are how some tech experts do it.
