Technology is a wonderful thing and can indeed be a godsend in certain occasions, but like anything else, too much of it can be harmful. This is particularly true for children, who are now born into a world dominated by tech.
Restricting your kids’ screen time and use of technology can be hard, but it’s not impossible. Many celebrity parents do exactly that, and some have very peculiar methods!
Browse through the following gallery and get to know the famous parents who monitor their kids’ use of technology.
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Jennifer Lopez
J.Lo doesn’t let her children near tech during the week. Though they do get to do it on Sundays, or as she calls it, “Sunday Funday.”
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Jennifer Lopez
“Sunday Funday, they work towards that because they don’t get to use their iPads during the week, or play video games or anything because it’s school time. And they have to be good in school and then they get Sunday Funday. It’s something I made up so they could work towards it and behave,” said Lopez.
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
Prince William and Kate Middleton like their kids to play using their imagination, so tech use is limited.
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
When they’re not visiting cool places like zoos or traveling, George, Charlotte, and Louis, enjoy playing outdoors.
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Heidi Klum
The former supermodel allocates screen time strategically. She does so by letting her kids use their iPads on planes. “Normally, there’s a certain amount of time they can play, but when we’re on the airplane, the sky is the limit. By the time we land, they have square eyeballs,” Klum said.
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Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum also vets her eldest daughter Leni’s pictures on social media before she posts them, even though they’re posted on a private account. “Even though it’s just her friends, you never know who they could send it to,” Klum explains.
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David and Victoria Beckham
The former soccer star said in a 2014 interview that one hour was the limit, because he wanted his kids to play outside.
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David and Victoria Beckham
“It’s so important to me that they’re involved in sports—for discipline and health,” added Beckham.
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Angelina Jolie
Monitoring tech use of six children can be hard work, so instead, Jolie prefers to monitor the content they watch.
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Angelina Jolie
The actress reportedly hired a cyber security expert to do just that. That’s a whole new level of parental control!
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Kim Kardashian
Although Kim Kardashian makes a lot of money on social media, she actually grew up with restricted access to tech.
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Kim Kardashian
So it’s only natural that she wants her kids to follow her steps. As a family rule, phone use is not allowed at breakfast, dinner, and bedtime.
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The Obamas
Barack and Michelle Obama also established some rules for their daughters daughters Malia and Sasha. While living at the White House, there was limited screen time during the week.
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The Obamas
“There’s nothing wrong with every once in a while putting the technology down and actually having a conversation,” said the former US President.
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Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan
Mr. Facebook is not a big fan of letting his daughters sit in front of a screen for a long time.
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Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan
The couple does, however, allow their kids to use Facebook’s video chat to keep in touch with their grandparents and aunts.
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Bill Gates and Melinda Gates
Despite recent news of separation, the couple raised three children together, and none of them had access to a cell phone until they turned 14!
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Bill Gates and Melinda Gates
“We often set a time after which there is no screen time, and in their case that helps them get to sleep at a reasonable hour,” said the co-founder of Microsoft.
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Chrissy Teigen and John Legend
The couple restricts tech time but Teigen likes her children to play with learning activity apps when they do have access to smartphones.
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Chrissy Teigen and John Legend
However, the couple relaxes the rules a bit in certain occasions, such as when their kids are in planes or restaurants.
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Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian
The tennis star and the Reddit co-founder welcomed their daughter Alexis in 2017.
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Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian
Ohanian said in an interview, before their daughter was born, that “It’s really important that she gets time to just be with her thoughts and be with her blocks and be with her toys, so we’ll be regulating it pretty heavily.”
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Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel
The former Victoria’s Secret angel and the Snapchat CEO don’t allow their kids a lot of tech time. In fact, Kerr’s son (whom she shares with Orlando Bloom), Flynn, only gets 1.5 hours of screen time per week!
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Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel
Spiegel himself had restricted access to tech growing up, and he wants to pass that on to his kids. He said it was good because that meant that he “spent a lot of time just building stuff and reading or whatever.”
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Mark Cuban
The ‘Shark Tank’ star has no problem admitting that he monitors his children’s tech use. Cuban uses management software to control his children’s phones and can even shut them down if he wants!
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Mark Cuban
In addition to no phones after 10 pm, Cuban also has other rules, including: one hour reading equals two hours to watch Netflix, and do your homework before playing video games.
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Susan Wojcicki
For the YouTube CEO, it’s all about making sure her kids get to create their own self-control methods.
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Susan Wojcicki
Wojcicki also takes away the kids’ phones when the family goes on vacation, so they can be more present. “People need to learn when it is a time [to be] focused in the conversation, and when it is OK to go and watch videos or do other activities on the internet,” she said.
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