BUT

They consume dangerous social networks every day, without any instructions.

There are 21,000 full-time drug dealers in France, and 750,000 child criminals active on the Internet.

The portal for reporting illegal Internet content (Pharos) employs 50 people for the 50 million French people who use social networks.

In the face of these challenges, one solution emerges forcefully: PREVENTION.

And it has to start at an early age!

It is essential that our children understand the impact of networks on :

1️⃣ Their self-esteem, through harassment and the quest for likes.
2️⃣ Their mental health, with FOMO (Fear of Missing Information) and excessive screen use.
3️⃣ Their safety, threatened by online predators.

Content education is our best weapon.

Here's what we can do together:

👉 Build confidence and self-esteem.
👉 Develop critical thinking skills.
👉 Identify scams.
👉 Understand how the brain works to avoid addiction.

The road is long, but not insurmountable.

Together, we can arm a generation ready to navigate the digital age with wisdom and purpose 💪

In a world dominated by screens, our children must learn to use them wisely, just as they learn to read, and this must be an educational priority.

Here are 10 golden rules for you, parents, in this digital age.

1️⃣ You'll be a role model: Your use of screens is their reference. When your children talk to you, you put down your screens, your priority is them. Your smartphone is put down in the living room and doesn't come into the bedroom at night, for teens and parents alike.

2️⃣ Thou shalt limit screen time: Set up a screen schedule and report to us every weekend on the family's use of screens by sharing our usage statistics. Parents have work to do too 🤪

3️⃣ Offer appropriate content: From the earliest age, children need to understand the age rules for content, and you need to get into the habit of checking with them that what they're watching is age-appropriate. Beyond shocking images, emotional maturity is very important, even for cartoons.

4️⃣ Talking about the brain: Explain the impact of screens on the brain. The impact of excessive exposure on attention, emotions and sleep helps them develop a conscious and moderate use of technology.
Don't hesitate to view the Confkids on attention, the Internet and robots - it's free!

5️⃣ Introduce them to digital technology: code lessons, digital understanding with COLORI and Geek Junior, they will be equipped 👌🏻

6️⃣ Thou shalt cultivate media literacy: Cultivate a critical mind. Knowing how to distinguish the true from the false is essential in the maze of online information. For that, there's the SOFT KIDS critical thinking program and the super magazine Chut! Magazine explore for teens.

7️⃣ You'll talk about online safety: confidentiality, passwords, online scams, child pornographers, harassment, and so on. You have to say things and tell them about the worst to prevent them. If they don't tell me that there are scammers on other continents who can ransom me because I've sent them a photograph, I can't find out on my own!

8️⃣ Open to dialogue, thou shalt: Advocate transparency. Talk about the benefits and challenges of screens for the whole family. Tell them they can tell you anything.

9️⃣ Thou shalt do offline activities: Encourage sports, art, reading and nature to find a daily balance.

1️⃣0️⃣ Thou shalt use the rule of container, content, context.

👉🏻 Container :

Television, tablet and smartphone are not used in the same way. A distinction must be made between passive and active use.

👉🏻 Contents :

📹 On the tablet with Youtube, watching "C'est pas Sorcier" or "Swan and Neo" won't have the same instructive.
📺 On TV, 5 episodes of Raving Rabbids (even if they are funny) and 5 episodes of MOUK (which goes around the world) won't have the same educational virtues.
📱 On the smartphone, playing video games and playing educational apps won't develop the same skills.

👉🏻 Background :

Having a child alone in front of the screen or with a parent nearby to interact, accompany and ask questions won't have the same impact.

Our mission is to prepare our children to integrate technology in a balanced and enriching way.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, why not take part in a family workshop? COLORI's "La fresque des écrans", for example, will help you regain control of your relationship with screens.

By accompanying our children, we prepare them for life.

Let's rise to the challenge together. 🚀

The Soft Kids team 🌈