Parenting is a magnificent journey in our lives. We raise our children and see their smiles every day. This journey is not all plain sailing, and there must be challenges and setbacks. With electronic devices widespread among young groups, online risks and dangers bring parenting more burden and stress. Sometimes parenting brings you a tough time when parental burnout blocks the way.
What causes online parental burnout?
Children’s online activities are getting more and more time-consuming and eventually occupy a large share of the daily time. Parents are not always attached to mobile games, social media and live streaming like the younger generation. Between parents and children, there is a generation gap forming. So, parents may have no clue what their children are doing and following on the Internet.
Parental dilemma
In the post-pandemic era, life became busier than it was during lockdown time. Parents are tied up with work to recover family budgets and a normal life routine. Although parents are adults, they are not machines, and even a well-oiled machine will wear out some day without enough maintenance and breaks. As self-care and family time dwindle, physical and mental health issues are not rare among parents. As time goes on, parents are just unable to withstand the stress, depression, and fatigue any more.
In this landscape, it is not all parents’ fault to neglect children’s online development, but high pressure and a fast pace of life forbid them from giving children as much as usual. Parents desire a safe and sound environment, but due to a lack of technical skills and know-how, they often meet a bad end, or they will roughly let their children stay away from electric products.
At last, parents find it hard to manage children’s online activity and grasp what happens in the virtual world. This kind of online burnout starts growing like cancer.
Online parental burnout symptoms
- Extreme emotional fatigue: Parents feel exhausted and can’t maintain their energy and patience. They appear to be inadequate in terms of children’s care and education online. Once they see children using phones, they can’t urge scolding.
- Depression or powerlessness: Parents may feel that their efforts to ensure online safety are not rewarded and may even have doubts about their parenting skills. They have tried, but children don’t listen to them and get hooked on the Internet. As a result, a sense of frustration and failure possesses parents.
- Distance and indifference: Parents may find their interest and emotional investment in their children declining. Since children pay more attention to online communities, time with family depletes. So, family care and love for children are not as strong as they used to be.
- Emotional fluctuations: Rapid or unprovoked emotional highs or lows, including anxiety, depression, irritability, etc.
- Difficulty focusing: Problems such as difficulty concentrating and completing tasks may occur.
- Sleep and appetite problems: Lower quality of sleep or changes in eating habits.
- Physical discomfort: For example, headaches, muscle pain, digestive problems, etc.
- Impacts on daily life and work ability: Parents may find their performance in daily life and work is declining.
- Loss of interest in family activities: Parents may find they are no longer interested in family activities or unwilling to participate.
How does my burnout affect my child?
The emotional frustration could pass from parents to children. If parents can’t provide a stable environment for children, depression and anxiety could repeat in children’s daily lives and lead to misconduct.
Under too much pressure from family, work, and society, a parent in burnout could reach the breaking point at any trivia. A contradiction could ruin a parent-child relationship. Additionally, chances to open communication and family time get less. As the tension between parents and children grows, the generation gap is gloomily getting wider.
Things could get worse as children seek other ways to release their emotions. In this situation, the most probable ways include playing video games online and talking to unknown persons on social media. If parents adopt simple and rude methods, they may show rebellion and resistance.
Obsessed with the virtual world and without enough family guidance, children’s academic performance in school could get worse and get along badly with peers and teachers in reality.
How to recover from parental burnout offline?
Network devices, social media, and games are absolutely not all your children have in their lives. There are many kinds of joy and fun in our real lives. The truth about online addiction is that children lack enough interaction in their daily lives and interests, so they just put their passion into the virtual world. Do not blame them, for they are just one track-mind.
Some tips for surviving burnout:
Family chores: You can teach your children some basic skills, like cleaning and cooking. This is a key step in forming a good habit. As long as they learn how to clean their rooms and cook, they can help you with family chores. Family time can help children gain a sense of satisfaction.
Family travel: Nothing is better than a family trip with a picnic to help your family return to nature. This is an unmatched experience, as all the family members breathe the new air.
Post-homework games: you can grant your children some time to play online games as long as they finish homework. There are also many other games better than online ones. For example, chess and scrabble are nice games for the family. Surely, you are supposed to play with them.
Interest club: An interest club is a good choice for children to spend time on meaningful things. They have fun with peers, and you can have your own time to do something else besides work and family. Life gets better when you add some spices to it.
Kid-free time: You can bring your children to their grandparents. They love kids. This will give both parents and children some distance. Grandparents always have more experience in life at their age. In effect, they are good doctors to help you survive burnout.
There are some topics about parental burnout on Reddit. You can join the discussion and share your woes. Parents will gather under your comment to offer their experience.
If burnout really surrounds you and lets you down, we suggest you go see a psychological doctor.
Save online parental burnout with parental controls
The real problems lie in the fact that our children are easily attracted by things that are easy to get and cater to their willingness. Hence, today, children learn faster than adults and are more likely to be Internet-savvy than ever before. The bad news is that they often lose control and simply walk into a dead end. This is where our burnout comes from. So, with the parental control app, we hope you can be decisive about your children’s phone usage. Don’t always follow your children’s will and stop them when they go in the wrong direction.
A recommended parental control app to survive burnout of parents with Internet-savvy children
Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, Whatsapp, Twitter… You can speak out a list of apps prevailing in the world. The youth group has become a major growth driver for the tech heavyweight. Don’t worry about your children getting addicted to them. We have all-in-one parental controls.
App blocker
This feature provides an App List. You can see all the apps installed on your children’s phones. Then you can directly whitelist or blacklist some apps and forbid newly installed apps. Additionally, you can set available time limits in every app.
Screen time limits
Similar to App Blocker, you can customize the screen time limits. You can set available hours or available periods for your children to open the screen. This way, you can rest on the sofa because your children won’t be able to use their phones during school time.
Live monitoring
Parents can remotely enable the live camera and audio on children’s devices. You can see the surroundings and open one-way audio to listen to the sound and voice around them.
Still can’t relax yourself completely? You can open Screen Mirror to see what your children are scrolling through on their phones.
Location Tracking
Like a GPS tracker in your children’s phone, this feature provides your children’s location and whereabouts.
Geofence: As parents, you should set restricted areas. If a red alter is sent to you, it means your children are entering Geofence. You can directly call them to turn back.
FlashGet Kids: more solutions to online and offline burnout
FlashGet Kids will never be content with staying where it is. Parental burnout has been a concern for a long time. We believe we can make a breakthrough in parental controls. No matter what you encounter in parenting, online or offline, we spare no effort to resolve it. For years, we have come a long way in seeking technical ways to monitor and manage children. Kids are our future, and FlashGet Kids is duty-bound to build a paradise for them to grow up in.
Finally, your children will understand your burnout and concern. All that you have done is going to protect them. And we want to be your invisible bodyguard for your children on their phones.
FAQs
Is it normal to feel burnout as a parent?
Yes. As we are experiencing a busy life nowadays, it is hard for parents to leverage everything between work and family. Besides, children are spending more time on phones and the Internet than ever before. They are more vulnerable to game addiction and inappropriate content, and it’s hard to control and manage them. So, you may feel tired, worn out, and distracted. Not just a few parents have symptoms alike, and there are plenty of resources for your problems.
Can parental stress lead to burnout and depression?
Yes. If your stress can’t be resolved timely, it will accumulate and grow. Once you reach the breaking point, burnout and depression could cause damage to your family. We suggest you take part in an online parenting community like Reddit or an offline clinic to share your stress and look for help.
How can I judge my state based on parental burnout symptoms?
Yes, you may search on the Internet, do a burnout test, and evaluate your condition with official burnout statistics. If you reach a severe level, we advise you to ask for professional help.
Can a parental control app help ease my burnout for children surfing online?
Yes. We offer powerful features to help you monitor your child’s phone and online activities. You can know their location, surroundings, and app usage. So, don’t simply hand your child a phone. You should install a parental control app on your child’s phone.
How to recover from parental burnout free of charge?
Yes. Online communities are usually free and allow everyone to join. Some local psychological counseling institutions may offer free consultations for parents. If you are lucky to meet one, just join in.
