The 2023 school year promises to be different. We’ve gone two full school years in a pandemic. And while things aren’t entirely back to normal everywhere, the school year looks to be as normal as ever.
If you’re a parent, you might feel a little bit anxious about the school year. And that’s OK. It’s not just kids who are nervous about going back to school. That’s why we’ve put together 10 handy back-to-school tips and tricks to make the school year a success.
Table Of Contents
1. Learn How to Use Their Technology
The days of pencils and paper are over. Sure, kids still use them. But one of the best school tips we can give to parents is to be prepared for a fundamental difference in how kids learn. The pandemic has fast-tracked digital learning.
When kids were forced to learn from home, they were forced to embrace technology. And today, lots of school districts use things like Google Classroom and encourage kids to bring laptops to school. As a parent, understanding how everything works is key.
2. Get Them off Their Screens
If your kid is staring at a screen all day, maybe it’s time to get them off their screens when the bell rings in the afternoon.
One of the best back to school tips for parents that experts give revolves around making sure kids engage in after-school activities that don’t involve technology. Whether it’s playing on a sports team or just having fun in the neighborhood, it’s important that your kids step away from the screen.
3. Understand the Apps They Use
If you’ve got an Android or iPhone, you’ve probably got a handful of apps you like to use. Maybe it’s the web browser, your messages app, and a few social media apps, like Facebook and WhatsApp. But kids are different.
They’re using Snapchat, Instagram, Kik, Line, WhatsApp, Messenger, and other apps to chat with their friends. And they’re using them all at once. If you only take one piece of back-to-school advice from this article, learning about the apps your kids use is an important one.
4. Learn the Lingo
Do you know with IRL and AFK mean? If not, understanding the acronyms your kids use is one of the best back-to-school tips and tricks to make your life easier.
When kids communicate, they use acronyms and emojis, plus words you’ve never heard before. Take the time to understand their language and you’ll feel a lot better if you happen to read their conversations.
5. Teach Them About Responsible Browsing
The Internet is a dangerous place. As adults, we kind of take that for granted. We understand that there are sites out there that are inappropriate — even for adults. And we understand that some seemingly safe sites can actually be dangerous, designed to steal your information, financial details, and more.
Before your kids start exploring the Internet on their own, make sure they understand the dangers. You can also install a parental control app to see what sites they’ve visited. It’s a great way to add a little peace of mind to your world.
6. Talk to Them About Cyberbullying
Here’s some back-to-school advice every parent should pay attention to. Stop cyberbullying before it starts. Easier said than done? Sure. But by having conversations with your kids about what cyberbullying looks like, how to handle it, and who to tell when they’re in trouble, you can help stop a bad situation from getting out of hand.
7. Supervise Their Internet Use
If you’re worried about who they’re talking to, what they’re searching for, who they’re connecting with, and more, consider getting a monitoring app to supervise what they do online. mSpy is one such app. It lets you monitor their online activity, so you’ll always know what they’re up to.
What do we mean by monitoring? In a nutshell, if they’re doing it on their phone, you can see it from your device. We’re talking about their social media conversations, their private text messages, their email, who they called, who called them, their calendar, their photos and videos, and more.
There’s even a keylogger to see every keystroke they type and a Screenrecorder to capture their activity as it happens.
8. Create a Rewards System
Let’s face the facts. Today’s kids socialize online. So following back-to-school tips that suggest taking away their phone could have a negative effect on how they interact with their peers. But that doesn’t mean you should just hand their phone over to them to use whenever they want.
Instead, consider establishing a reward system. If they want to use their phone, make them show you that they’re mature enough. Have them do chores and earn points. Then convert those points into screen time.
For example, invite them to earn 10 points for taking out the trash, 5 points for making their bed, 7 points for walking the dog, and so on. Then invite them to exchange their points for minutes on their phone.
9. Have Family Dinners
We all get busy. That’s why it’s important to find time to sit and relax as a family. Put down the phones and have a dinnertime conversation with your kids. Learn about their day. Understand their hopes, achievements, and frustrations. You’ll learn a lot from 30 minutes of conversation per night.
10. Supervise Their Internet Use With mSpy
We can throw all the tips for school you can handle your way. But if you don’t encourage healthy digital habits, it’ll be pointless to follow our advice. That’s why it’s important to encourage healthy habits and a sense of responsibility as they use their phone during the school year.
mSpy is a great app for that. It lets you monitor their online activity discreetly.
Because mSpy works in hidden mode, they’ll never know you’re using an app to review their chats, search history, videos, pics, and online activity. And that means they’ll have the freedom to be themselves online.
By having open conversations about responsible Internet use and giving them the freedom to explore, you’ll foster better relationships with your kids. And that’s the best back-to-school advice we can possibly give.
