the Parental Guidance and Training in the Use of Google Family Link as a Children's Digital Control System

Abstract

The rapid development of digital technology has brought significant changes to children’s social, learning, and entertainment patterns, particularly with the increasing internet access through personal smart devices at the elementary school age. While technology offers opportunities to support learning processes and access to information, unsupervised usage poses potential risks, such as exposure to age-inappropriate content, addiction, and decreased social interaction. This condition demands an active role from parents in providing digital supervision and guidance. One effort to address this issue is utilizing the Google Family Link application as a digital control system to manage screen time, control app usage, and monitor children's activity and location. However, the effectiveness of this application heavily depends on the parents' level of digital literacy. Therefore, the program titled "Parental Guidance and Training in the Use of Google Family Link as a Children's Digital Control System" was designed to enhance parents' understanding, skills, and awareness in implementing wise, balanced, and responsible digital parenting. This program is expected to help parents optimize digital control functions as a form of protection while fostering open family communication in the digital era.