![\"Parental](\"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/parental-control-.png\")
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Modeling Behavior<\/strong><\/p>\n You are by far the most influential person in your child’s life. They learn everything from YOU. Especially with day-to-day behaviors, how you treat yourself is how your kids, often, will treat themselves. So, how they use screens will be inspired\u2014at least in part\u2014by how you use them.<\/p>\n This is not to say how your kids use screens is your fault, and beating yourself up is counterproductive. Behavior, yours and theirs, isn’t set in stone and can easily be shifted. But first, you need to understand what behavior you’re showing.<\/p>\n Start by tracking how you use screens, and why you use them. Smartphones are the Swiss Army knife of modern living, after all, and you likely use your phone for everything from getting directions to tracking down recipes. And this is good modeling; showing your kids that you use it as a tool, not a distraction, will help them think of it differently.<\/p>\n Secondly, look at the times you don’t need to use it. Would you be better off reading a physical book than staring at your screen? Do you turn on the TV and just never turn it off once you get home? How do you use your phone, and why?<\/p>\n![\"Parental](\"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/parental-control-for-iphone2.jpg\")