How to start healthy online habits

Whether it’s two hours a day online or a whole lot more, it’s important to focus on quality time online. Here are 3 top tips for helping kids create healthy digital habits.

Some habits are much better to get the hang of when you’re young. Eating well, exercise and not picking your nose on public transport are all particularly important to get drilled into you before you hit a certain age if you want to live a long life filled with fun and friends.

And because our lives are increasingly moving online, it only stands to reason that we should also look to instil the same healthy habits early when it comes to online life. Since we’re working, learning and playing online more than ever before, healthy digital habits are more important than ever.  

So, here’s a few tips on helping your young ones grow in a positive direction digitally.

Help your family feel safer online. Explore the McAfee Safe Family app on our Family  Plan >

1. Set some device-free times and zones

• Making dinner time device-free
• Switching devices off an hour before bed
• Discussing spaces where not to use devices such as the bathroom or toilet
• Setting time aside for family activities, e.g. a walk, sporting activities, making dinner together – something that is quality time for your family
• Use the McAfee Safe Family app to set screen time limits 

2. Use study apps

Research has shown that retrieval practice is one of the most effective ways of studying. Retrieval practice is testing yourself regularly about the key ideas in any new subject you’re learning. One common way to do this is creating flashcards on key ideas as you’re reading the material for the first time and then testing yourself on these later. There’s a lot of free apps to help with retrieval practice out there and, like any digital platform, we recommend you read the Terms of Service and reviews to see if they’re right for you. Some we found are:

• Anki Flashcards
• Brainscape Flashcards
• Memrise
• Supermemo

3.  Health and wellness videos and apps

The global COVID-19 isolation of 2020 has seen an explosion of health and wellness videos and apps, and many gyms started pushing their content online. If you’ve got a child in primary school you’ve probably heard of the Body Coach or #PEwithJoe who went from 800,000 YouTube subscribers to 2.2 million in three weeks. Check out the PE with Joe YouTube channel for workouts for all ages and the Smiling Mind app for mindfulness and meditation.

Affordable fitness is part of the plan. Discover OS Fitness >

And because we love an opportunity to talk about ourselves (we’re proud of our work), we should also probably mention our own entry into the digital fitness world – and that’s OS Fitness. And the best part? You can get free access on selected Optus data SIM and broadband plans.

Explore our Family Hub for more great advice and information. Or, if you’re looking for a way to keep connected and bring your family together, explore our Family Plan for generous data, amazing value and includes a subscription to the McAfee Safe Family app.