Like many parents, I am working from home while my child also works from home. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed more caregivers and children together all day—and there are pros and cons with that. For me, the pro is being around my kid more, but the con is also being around my kid more! It’s harder to work when you’re both a CEO managing staff and a parent managing homework.
A few tips that have worked for me have been:
- Relax on all your screen time rules. I confess: someone who literally travels around and teaches parents about screen time has let their rules go out the window. But that’s OK.
- Figure out your productivity schedule. I’m an early bird and get my best work done before noon. That means any school work happens in the afternoon. Find when you’re most energetic and try to work then and get it done.
- Let some homework go. My kid’s teachers may not like to hear this, but sometimes you just can do what you can. It’s not worth the battle to finish every math worksheet or every essay. I have been upfront with teachers when submitting work online that we did what we could.
The pandemic has also increased the amount of hours children are behind screens. Like with working at home, there are pros and cons. A pro is that we’re fortunate to have so much information at our fingertips and that learning can continue. A con is the ever present issue of safety, privacy and more. There are already increases of privacy and pornography on Zoom, which many students use regularly. And any increase behind a screen makes it more likely that children can run into inappropriate material.
My work as CEO of Digital Respons-Ability is helping students and parents be more responsible online. Digital Respons-Ability is the state sponsored provider of digital citizenship education and can teach parents and students around Utah for free. We also offer free videos, resources, consultations and classes online and are available to train your organization virtually.
With our shift to more technology, now is an ideal time for parents to have those conversations about being safe online. The other week, when helping with spelling homework on an online game, I had the opportunity to talk about the difference between ads and content on websites. The conversations can come up naturally as we are all in close quarters at home.
The quarantine will eventually end and it will feel a little bittersweet not seeing my child as much during the day. But that means that we can all get back to work, and Digital Respons-Ability can continue coming out to afterschool programs, schools, and other organizations to help educate on digital citizenship.
Carrie Rogers-Whitehead is the CEO of Digital Respons-Ability. Their organization is available for booking this summer and we encourage you to reach out. Contact them at or through their websites at https://respons-ability.net and https://digital-parenting.com
This blog post has been provided by Digital Respons-Ability.