A Focus on Family and Tech

Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope that you enjoyed your much needed break… and then quite an extension of the fun! The Pavlisin’s had a great break. We had tons of play time, got things done around the house, ate a lot of food, and spent a lot of time with both sides of the family. I may have mentioned this before, but time with immediate and extended family is so valuable to us, so being able to see all of the grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins without the limitations of crazy schedules is good for the soul. So on the heels of winter break, I felt that my first Acorn article of 2025 should focus on family and some ways to deepen connections with your kids while maintaining expectations and keeping them safe. 

I will start with a topic that seems inescapable - technology and screen time. It seems that both of these “sneak” their way into almost every facet of our lives…therefore sneaking into our kids’ lives. There is a plethora of research about what age screen time is acceptable, when certain apps are appropriate, when to give your child a cellphone etc. but even with “guidelines” how do you know what is actually “right”, and where do you even start? Well, like most things, starting with the foundation, and building up, is a wonderful place to start. 

The foundation of a family is based on values - the beliefs, priorities, ethics that guide our behavior, our relationships, our choices, etc. For many, values such as, kindness, honesty, family time, wealth - probably rank higher than others. So what values are most important to your family? Why those? Do these values reflect the ones that you want to instill in your children? A chosen set of values are important to reinforce expectations, let your children know the “why” behind house rules, and teach them how they should treat themselves, their family, and others. When I talk about values with older students I like to have them start by answering, “what do you want to be known for?” It’s a great guiding question that gets them thinking about if the values they deem as most important, match how others view them. 

How is this relevant to technology? Your family values (your foundation) should be used to create a “Family Tech Plan”. This is a team effort. Give your children a role in the decision making (within reason), so that it feels fair and easy to follow. If a “Family Tech Plan” is a team effort, that means it’s aligned with the values you set together! I have attached a resource from Big Life Journal that you can use to build your family tech plan. But here is a quick summary of what it looks like. 

Start your plan with: “We are the ________ family. We like to _________________. We value _________________.” 

And then move into the specifics of your plan: 

• What do we DO and NOT DO on our screens? 
• Where DO and DON’T we use screens? 
• How long will we use screens? 

While this is just a guideline to help get you started, there a lot of ways that you can build a plan to maintain expectations and keep your kids safe all while connecting with them. To make these tips and resources more accessible, Sara Verwers and I are teaming up to provide families with weekly resources/tips on relevant topics such as this! We will be sharing short informational posts, videos, links, resources (all of the things) to help make parenting in this day and age easier.

Check out our introduction in this month’s Acorn to learn more! 

Until next month, 

Mrs. P