While the Internet serves as an excellent resource for studies, social networking, and creating unique content, it can also have negative attributes. Children, who are still developing their skills and emotional connections, could suffer from these negative attributes. You shouldn’t take the Internet lightly, and you should monitor your child’s usage.

Here, we explain four reasons you should limit your child’s Internet use.

Cyberbullying and Cyberstalking

The Internet gives a convenient cloak over your identity, making it easier to use hurtful words and search anything and everything. We thought regular bullying was the only thing we had to worry about, but cyberbullying is becoming more prevalent. Children sit behind a screen and keyboard without thinking of the consequence of their words or actions.

Block all social media from your child’s accounts and limit the use of websites. You could choose to do away with the Internet entirely, but if Internet safety is something you want to teach your child, start by doing it at a young age.

Sleep Problems

The discovery of screen time coinciding with sleep time are studies you should consider educating yourself, as a parent, on. The screen’s blue light is a part of the light spectrum that is most active in our sleep cycle. Allowing your child screen time before bed stimulates their brain to suppress melatonin, thus keeping them awake longer.

For an alternative, keep screen time to a limit of certain hours per day. Stop using screens when it is getting to a couple of hours before bedtime, or don’t allow it at all.

Obesity and Laziness

The Internet is like a black hole, vacuuming more and more people into its trance. Using social media and scrolling through the Internet can get addicting. Children who are always on the Internet may not find time to go outside anymore or may become lethargic and unable to care for themselves.

Many phones now can set a screen time limit to a certain amount of minutes or hours per day. Maybe you only allow your kid to spend one hour a day after school on the Internet, and the rest should be for homework and playtime outside that stimulates other parts of their brain.

Negative Effects on School Performance

This last reason you should limit your child’s Internet use focuses on the harmful effects of the Internet on your child’s school performance. Allowing your child more time on the Internet distracts them from the responsibilities you are trying to teach them. The World Wide Web is perpetual and will create a vice grip on your child, distracting them from schoolwork and paying attention in class.

There are many solutions to Internet usage problems in your kids. The Angel Watch Company cares for the well-being and health of your children; check out our kids 4G smartwatch that has absolutely no connection to the Internet and is a safe alternative for communicating with your child when you cannot be there. Keep in mind the parenting style you want to follow and talk with your partner to develop an Internet usage plan for your children.