SINGAPORE – At the start of the year, Mr Aaron Ho and his wife made the tough choice of taking away their teenage son’s smartphone after his grades began to slip.

But as the school holiday approaches, Mr Ho hopes to instead set clearer boundaries on screen time use upon returning the confiscated smartphone to his 16-year-old.

Having used Bloom – a physical keycard to lock and unlock apps by tapping it on one’s phone – to curb his own screen time, the 51-year-old said he is considering using it to manage his son’s habits too.

Setting clear boundaries is one of the takeaways after Mr Ho reviewed a set of resources dedicated to helping parents foster healthy digital habits in their children.

Issued on Nov 1 by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the materials advised parents to set clear rules and parental controls on device use, teach children to think before they post, report inappropriate content and hold open discussions with children on what they are doing online.

“These four actions establish the foundation for children to develop healthy digital habits from an early age, paving the way for them to become discerning and responsible digital users,” said IMDA in a statement on Nov 1.

The advisory was developed in conjunction with parents, youths, and partners such as the Media Literacy Council.

Mr Aaron Ho, 51, with his wife and two children Samuel, 16, and Samantha, 19.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MR AARON HO

“It includes information such as the dangers of social media, which parents might not consider before handing a phone to their children,” said Mr Ho.

Curbing screen time has been an ongoing battle for many parents here.

Only 37 per cent of parents in Singapore feel confident in their ability to guide their child’s digital habits, according to the findings of the Ministry of Digital Development and Information’s

inaugural Digital Parenting Survey

released in September.

The survey also found that three in four parents want more support from the Government in managing their children’s digital activities. The top choices were stronger legislation to protect children online, and digital resources and guides.

Parenting in the digital age is an issue of great concern to the Government, which is why it is a focal point of this year’s Digital for Life Festival, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo on the sidelines of the festival held at Heartbeat@Bedok on Nov 1.

Alongside President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, they toured booths at the festival including those set up by Google, OpenAI, TikTok, and the National Library Board.

The festival is in its fourth edition, and previously focused on helping seniors adapt to new technology, imparting digital skills to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and most recently equipping Singaporeans with the know-how on Generative AI tools.

“We hope to start parents on the journey of becoming more confident, and the way to do so is to introduce more resources, and help them appreciate what are some of the parental controls that they can implement,” said Mrs Teo.

“More importantly, what kind of relationship they should be building with their children in order to sustain a level of guidance for the children, as they engage online.”

She added that efforts to continue reaching parents in the heartland areas, such as schools, will be led by Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam.

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, accompanied by (from left) IMDA CEO Ng Cher Pong and Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, generating an image of his younger self through generative AI at the Digital for Life Festival on Nov 1.

ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Mother of a 14-year-old boy, Mdm Jane Sng, said the resources are a helpful reminder to practice what she preaches about screen time usage.

“The resources are also categorized by age group, which is helpful because the advice for a toddler-age kid is different from what is useful for a teenager,” said Ms Sng.

Just a week after lifting the three-hour screen time limit set for her son now that school holidays are here, she was shocked to find that his daily usage has gone up to 17 hours. This includes time spent on his phone and gaming consoles.

To combat this, the 44-year-old senior marketing manager hopes to have more open discussions with her son what to do with his free time during the holidays – such as encouraging him to read and play sports.

Senior marketing manager Jane Sng and her 14-year-old son.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF JANE SNG

“I’m trying to give him more leeway to plan his time,” said Ms Sng. “If he can manage his screen time and it doesn’t affect his studies, I might remove the limits entirely. If not, then I’ll have to bring it back.”

“There are also a few tips I picked up from the resources that I thought were practical. For instance, I found out that it is possible to filter out inappropriate language on apps like Instagram and the Google search engine.”

IMDA’s resources can be found on the

Digital For Life portal

, and will be updated progressively with more materials such as videos, infographics, and games.