Sky Broadband Buddy – Cutting Screen Time

#AD – This is a sponsored post in partnership with Sky Broadband Buddy

These days, it’s probably fair to say that we all have a little more screen time than we should. Over recent months I have become increasingly conscious about the amount of screen time that both I, and my children, are having – whether it be laptops, iPads, smart TVs or mobile devices. We are a very tech friendly family, and whilst I absolutely appreciate the educational benefits of screen time when used appropriately, there are also times when I accept that the screen time in this household goes beyond a point which can be described as healthy.

I am my own worst enemy. I love blogging with a passion, but I also really struggle to switch off. There are always social media updates to make, SEO edits to tweak, invoices to send, trends to monitor and stats to record. If its not blog work, it’s playing games on my phone, browsing aimlessly through Instagram and Facebook, or at my worst, googling medical symptoms late at night when I should be attempting to sleep. (Yes really). Whilst screen time definitely has its benefits, for me personally, it also has a lot to answer for in terms of my stress and anxiety levels, and I am sometimes guilty of prioritising unnecessary screen time over my own self care.

When the Momo You Tube incident happened earlier in the year, it really made me question the amount of time the girls too spend on their screens. Whilst the majority is spent on educational apps and games, they do also watch You Tube and Sky Kids a lot, and have probably watched more than their fair share of surprise eggs being opened and unboxing reveals.

Our tech use has slowly creeped into our family time, and we could all do with a bit of a screen time overhaul.

How can Sky Broadband Buddy Help?

Back in May, Sky launched the Sky Broadband Boost pack with a brand new app Sky Broadband Buddy, which gives parents the ultimate control over their family’s internet usage.

Endorsed by Internet Matters, Sky Broadband Buddy works by installing an app on each device that is connected to your Sky network and works to manage your internet usage both on Wifi and 3G/4G – both inside and OUTSIDE the home.

Just like a remote control for the internet, with Sky Broadband Buddy you can:

• Pause the Internet –  pausing one person’s internet access or the whole home, to ensure that tech isn’t used at certain times of day such as meal times, home work times, or in my case (as an enforced break)
• Set regular time limits and bedtimes – ensuring children’s internet usage doesn’t go beyond a certain amount each day and is turned off at the time they should be sleeping.
• Apply different filters for everyone in the family so they only see what they should – setting ratings such as PG, 13, 18 or none.
• See what your family does online and the sites that they visit – should you wish to.
• Offer Screen Time rewards – Once their homework is done or their bedroom has been tidied, children have the ability to earn a later bedtime or more screen time by having their time limits removed.

Our Experience of Sky Broadband Buddy

We decided to put Sky Broadband Buddy to the test over the period of a week, checking out its key features by setting some limits, pause times and bed times for each family member, ‘unplugging’ from our tech and monitoring what impact this had on our overall screen time. Just like a smart meter can help get a better perspective of your energy usage, I was hopeful that taking a few small steps to limit our screen time would see not only a reduction in our overall use, but have other personal wellbeing benefits as well, including additional “time” to do something positive such as self care, relaxation or down time.

The initial set up of Sky Broadband Buddy was very straight forward, simply setting up individual profiles for each family member’s devices and applying the appropriate filter restrictions and settings.

We then specified some “Off Times” “Bed Times” and “Time Limits” for each family member based on their age and current internet usage. The settings for each device were managed centrally from the main Sky Broadband Buddy hub on my iPhone handset and could be  changed, updated or overridden (by me) if required.

Test 1 – Pausing the internet

I’m sure I’m not the only one to admit that at times we have the tech out at dinner. Whilst we try and use dinner time as family time and a chance to sit round the table and talk about our day, the reality it is that it doesn’t take long before both Mike and I have checked our phones or bought out the iPad whilst they eat, in a weak attempt at trying to keep them at the table for longer or encourage them to clear their plates.

Over the past week, we used the Sky Broadband Buddy to pause the internet during the times our dinner was routinely served. This meant that all of our devices simply wouldn’t work online during that hour. We explained to the girls that during mealtimes the tech was to stay away and whilst they weren’t entirely happy about it at first, they soon got used to the revised routine. I have to be honest it was quite refreshing to focus entirely on our meals and actually communicate for a change – I think Mike learned more about the girl’s days with Mummy during the Summer holidays than he probably ever has before. This was quite an eye opener!

Test 2 – Time Limits & Bed Times

Whilst we are happy for the girls to watch the iPad for a bit after school or whilst waiting for their tea, at times, it can be hard to get them to stop. We decided to set a time limit for both the girls, allowing them access to the internet for up to 1 hour per day.  I could monitor their overall use from my phone, see when the time was running low and once the hour was reached, the internet quite simply wouldn’t load on their devices.

Sky Broadband Buddy does offer some flexibility here, so if you prefer you can turn off non educational apps after an hour, but keep specific ones such as educational games, reading or writing apps accessible after the limit has been reached. You can also override these limits if they have been well behaved (see rewards below) or if it is raining monsoon outside and you simply need a bit of down time to maintain your sanity (let’s keep it real here!)

Neve at 3 actually accepted these time limits better than I expected, with her simply saying “it’s died” before going off any playing with her toys. Restricting her internet use has definitely meant she has played more with more creative tasks such as colouring in, flicking through books, role play and jigsaws, which are far more appropriate for a child of her age.

In the same way that the “park closes in the evenings” (or at least it does in our world!) the iPad now closes at bedtime. I was able to set the girls profiles to turn off at 7pm and not “wake up” again till morning. I think back to my days of Commodore 64 (yes I’m that old) where I used to cry to my Mum that it was “the furthest I’d ever got”  as a desperate attempt to stay up just that little bit later. The girls are the same, whilst they may try and convince me that they haven’t seen that episode of Peppa Pig before, I am fairly confident that I have heard it at least 10 times, so nice try – it’s time for bed.

Test 4 – Age Appropriate Content

I often worry about the girls using apps that might expose them to inappropriate content. Using Sky Broadband Buddy, we have been able to set individual filters on the girls profiles, ensuring that the content that they are viewing is suitable for a PG audience. Whilst I do always supervise their iPad use, this extra filter is great for peace of mind, and reassuring to know that Erin won’t be stumbling across any content that is of an adult nature.

Test 5 – Encouraging positive behaviors

We have recently have been teaching Erin about money, responsibility and reward, and how if we want nice things we have to earn them, rather than simply being offered things on a plate. The Sky Broadband Buddy’s ability to “earn” additional screen time was an interesting concept. If Erin had been particularly well behaved, I was able to apply a reward such as turning off the bedtime I had previously set or extending the internet use limit for that particular day. This did have a really positive impact on Erin in particular, who was suddenly volunteering to help unload the washing machine and hang up the washing for a chance to earn her treat! During the Summer Holidays, this has actually been really helpful, with her helping with basic chores in exchange for staying up half an hour later in the evenings. I think the message behind this is important too and a feature of Sky Broadband Buddy that I think works great with slightly older children.

Test 6 – Date nights

Sky Broadband Buddy didn’t only have an impact on my children during the week’s test. As a blogger with a day job in addition, evenings can be a busy time for me, when the kids are finally in bed and I get the laptop out and crack on with my work. Mike and I had previously discussed having 1 night during the week and 1 night at the weekend completely ‘OFF’ where unless I have an absolutely crucial deadline or date specific activity, that the tech stayed shut way.

I had attempted this previously without Sky Broadband Buddy but this relied on my willpower and whilst my phone and laptop still worked, it was all too tempting to have a little scroll through Facebook every so often (I definitely get FOMO).

Using Sky Broadband Buddy, I set my profile so that on a Tuesday and Saturday night, the internet was off on all my devices. With no phone to distract me, we opted to do other things instead, like talk (who’d have thought it?), snuggle up and watch a movie (still technically screen time but at least shared!) – or even SHOCK horror, read a few pages of a book!

Test 7 – Blocking distracting sites

Sky Broadband Buddy has not only helped reduce my screen time during the week, but actually helped me work smarter, by blocking certain sites that were distracting me from doing my ACTUAL WORK. For example, on Tuesday mornings when I tend to tackle my to do list, I turned off Facebook, reducing the amount of interruptions I got from one of the many group chats I find myself in. As a result, I was able to ensure that the screen time that I did have during the week was far more productive, and thus reduce the amount of screen time during the week overall.

Overall Verdict of Sky Broadband Buddy 

Our experiment with Sky Broadband Buddy has been really interesting for us all. The girls have learned some very important lessons about when it is and isn’t appropriate to be on the iPad, and we have all benefited from some additional time away from our tech where we have been able to talk and enjoy each others company.

I have really enjoyed having a bit of time ‘off’ from the constant social media and online world, and whilst it felt strange at first to not be able to check it (trust me when I say I tried!) I soon adjusted to leaving the phone in my drawer.

Its proven that blue screen before bed can actually reduce the quality of your sleep, and I have to admit that on my Sky Broadband Buddy ‘date nights” I have definitely found it easier to switch off, where as previously I’d find myself thinking about work before bed, or reading emails in the middle of the night. If I did wake, not having the urge to check my phone did mean I was able to get back to sleep much quicker.

Most importantly, I think becoming more conscious of my own tech use has given me an important reminder about being a role model to my children – how can I possibly expect my girls to not be glued to their devices when I am always glued to mine?? I have to show them that you don’t need to be always online and that spending time PRESENT with each other, living in the moment, is far more important.

During the week of our test of Sky Broadband Buddy, my own personal internet usage according to my iPhone’s usage tracker was down by 19%!!!. Whilst in the industry I work in my usage is probably still higher than most, I most definitely take that as a win!

Sky Broadband Buddy is an excellent way to help manage your Sky Broadband Parental Controls and restrict your family’s screen time and focus on being fully present. Because ultimately your time with your family, is the most important time of all.

You can learn more about Sky Broadband Parental Controls and Sky Broadband Buddy here