Comment by darthrupert

My experience from parenting two children to adulthood and being way too lax about devices led me to roughly the following rules for the rest of my kids:

1. Absolutely no phones in bed at any point of the day. Dpublecheck at bedtime that the phone is where it's supposed to be.

2. I vet every app on the phone.

3. Web browser is whitelisted.

4. I vet every contact on signal/whatsapp. No other messaging apps.

5. When they get access to a computer, I let them know that I can know everything they do with it. Also, the computer is stationary in a central place in the house.

When they complain that their friends have more rights, I will lament the unfortunate situation where I cannot dictate the rules of other families.

I'll obviously revise these rules as they grow and I get the feeling that they can handle it. The default mode for parents must always be that they can not.