The holiday season is upon us and most families have some sort of technology on their wishlist this year. But the excitement and the stress of the holidays can result in the perfect storm of technology overload with new smartphones, tablets, and games.
According to a study by Common Sense Media, the majority of parents (68%) feel their teens use their mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablets) too much.
So, how much screen time is too much? That is for you to decide but we’ve teamed up with Comcast for a two-part series to share tips for preventing digital holiday headaches (because we’ve all had them, right along with the Christmas Eve toy assembly late-nighters).
Schedule less screen time to maximize family time.
Sit down with your kids and come to an agreement of how much daily screen time works with your schedule. Comcast’s Xfinity xFi lets you control your connected home with features like the xFi ’WiFi Pause feature allowing parents to not only set limits but also enforce rules.
And here’s something amazing: you can set up to 30 screen time schedules per profile.
So, when Grandma comes to visit or you need your kids’ help for a quick cleanup, all the devices your children use can be paused at the same time! And the great thing is that since you’ve previously set these time limits, you can have the peace of mind that they will be enforced even when you’re not at home.
Protect the devices on your home network
Let’s face it: moms are busy during the holidays and sometimes when we’re doing that last-minute online shopping or gift wrapping, we need a distraction for Jimmy. This often means distracting him with a tablet or a smartphone and that’s why filters and limits are incredibly important during unsupervised times.
It’s also important to protect the home devices on your home network. When you get that beloved new tech toy for Christmas, protect your home WiFi network and the devices connected to it with Xfinity xFi Advanced Security, which monitors and blocks threats to your connected devices.
Not an online security expert? Most of us aren’t! Thankfully, xFi Advanced Security has a simple user interface and informs consumers of blocked threats and provides instructions on how to further secure impacted devices.
Other Cool Things You Can Do With xFi
xFi is a personalized home Wi-Fi experience that gives you the fastest speeds, best coverage, and ultimate control of your devices and services in your
homes. Here are some cool things you can do:
- Say “show me devices” into the X1 voice remote and see results on your TV.
- See who’s most active on your home network and when.
- Identify devices that are not working properly and receive tips to fix them.
- The xFi experience can be controlled via a website, mobile app and the X1 voice remote.
- See and control your home Wi-Fi network from anywhere using this cloud-based platform.
Want to learn more? Go to Xfinity Internet xFi for more information.
Stay tuned for part 2 of our preventing digital headaches series where we talk about the cool technology that keeps your packages safe and how to easily share your WiFi password with holiday guests.
In partnership with Mile High Mamas