I went down this path and determined that it simply isn't worth the effort.
I now take the approach of "a device is simply another activity" and regulate it just like I do every other activity. I don't do anything special around how the kids use their devices just like how I don't tell them how to run around at the park. As long as the kids meet their responsibilities and nothing glaring jumps out at me from their device logs (I have Suricata set up to alert for problematic network activity and I set up built-in parental controls wherever I can to get weekly summary reports) I don't police them at all.
I try to talk to my kids regularly about how important it is to balance digital and physical hobbies. Time will tell if this pays off since my oldest is only six but doing this gives me "warm and fuzzies" and I get a view my kids' relationship with their devices. I already see a huge improvement in my eldest's attitude to technology where she will willingly give up her devices when asked. A year ago she would throw a temper tantrum if she THOUGHT I was coming to take her tech away because she didn't understand my intentions. My younger two seem to have a healthy relationship with their tech as well but I'm not sure if that's from our discussions or from watching their big sister.
I'd love to collect log data and run that through a SIEM but that's far more expensive than just tossing their devices and pretending they won't be interested in the digital world. At some point you have to ask yourself "what am I trying to do here?" If I can't trust my child to not be an idiot it's far easier for me to just not give them the activity at all until I can provide a safe space for us all to be idiots. If I gave them the tech though I WANT them to fully explore it!
Comments
I went down this path and determined that it simply isn't worth the effort.
I now take the approach of "a device is simply another activity" and regulate it just like I do every other activity. I don't do anything special around how the kids use their devices just like how I don't tell them how to run around at the park. As long as the kids meet their responsibilities and nothing glaring jumps out at me from their device logs (I have Suricata set up to alert for problematic network activity and I set up built-in parental controls wherever I can to get weekly summary reports) I don't police them at all.
I try to talk to my kids regularly about how important it is to balance digital and physical hobbies. Time will tell if this pays off since my oldest is only six but doing this gives me "warm and fuzzies" and I get a view my kids' relationship with their devices. I already see a huge improvement in my eldest's attitude to technology where she will willingly give up her devices when asked. A year ago she would throw a temper tantrum if she THOUGHT I was coming to take her tech away because she didn't understand my intentions. My younger two seem to have a healthy relationship with their tech as well but I'm not sure if that's from our discussions or from watching their big sister.
I'd love to collect log data and run that through a SIEM but that's far more expensive than just tossing their devices and pretending they won't be interested in the digital world. At some point you have to ask yourself "what am I trying to do here?" If I can't trust my child to not be an idiot it's far easier for me to just not give them the activity at all until I can provide a safe space for us all to be idiots. If I gave them the tech though I WANT them to fully explore it!