Your Family Technology Use Contract
The house rules for a new device, in writing, with a side for your kid and a side for you.
A new phone or tablet is a big deal, and it goes a lot smoother when everyone knows the rules before the box is even open. This is my contract, rule by rule. Keep the ones that fit your family, leave out the ones that don't, fill in your own times, and add anything I missed.
When you're done, it prints as a clean contract with signature lines, ready for both of you to sign.
“Every rule is always up for renegotiation because there's nothing concrete to go back to.”
- The ground rules: whose device it is, and why nothing online is private or temporary.
- Twelve rules for your kid, from passcodes to the time the phone locks at night.
- Five promises you make back. Yes, you sign it too.
- What happens when either of you breaks it.
Unlock Your Contract
Pop in your email and the whole contract opens right up: every rule, ready to keep, change, or leave out, plus a printable version to sign together. No account, no password, and your answers never leave your browser. I'll just send you the occasional tech tip, nothing else.
That doesn't look like a full email address. Mind double-checking it?
Already unlocked this on another visit? It should open automatically. Trouble with that? Email sarah@familytech.biz.
Every rule starts checked. Uncheck any you want to leave out, and it drops out of the contract at the bottom. Your choices save in this browser, so you can come back and finish later.
Build it together if you can. Sit down with your kid, go through it one rule at a time, and talk about the ones you change. A contract they helped write is one they're a lot more likely to keep.
Who It's For
The Ground Rules
The things your kid needs to understand before they start using it.
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This is our device. You have permission to use it as long as you follow the rules in this agreement.Left out
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Nothing you post online, text a friend, or message on your device is ever private, even when you think it is. Not only will I, your caregiver, monitor what's on your device, but someone can always see something you only meant for someone else.Left out
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Everything you post or message is also permanent. You can't erase or take back something you posted or wrote, so think twice before you hit send.Left out
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We've talked about what “inappropriate” means, and you understand what counts as inappropriate under this agreement. Haven't had that talk yet? Conversation #2 walks you through it.Left out
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Parental controls, including monitoring, will be installed on your device, and I'll need to approve every app before you can use it. Not sure which controls to use? Your Parental Controls Map lays them all out.Left out
Your Kid's Side
Written to your kid, so it reads right when they sign it. In the contract, these come after “You agree to.”
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Never change the passcode on your phone without letting me know what the new code is.Left out
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Let me know what happened as soon as you can when you see something inappropriate. If you searched for it, let me know that as well.Left out
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Have the phone lock at every night and unlock automatically at in the morning on weeknights. On weekends or when school is out, it locks at in the evening and unlocks at in the morning.Left out
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Pay for the replacement or repairs if it falls into the toilet, smashes on the ground, or vanishes into thin air. You'll have to earn the money, and you'll likely be without the device while you save up.Left out
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Not text, email, message, or post anything through this device that you wouldn't say in person, and stay out of conversations that are hurtful to others.Left out
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Not text, email, message, or post anything to someone that you wouldn't say out loud with their parents in the room. Censor yourself.Left out
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Turn it off, silence it, or put it away during family time, while driving, in a restaurant, at the movies, or while talking with another human being.Left out
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Not send or receive pictures or videos of your body without clothes on, or anyone else's body without clothes on.Left out
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Not try to uninstall or get around the parental controls on your device.Left out
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Use your time on the device wisely. If you have chores or homework to do, do that first, and then use your device.Left out
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Only friend and message privately with people you know in real life.Left out
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Never post personal information (like your full name, address, or school) anywhere the public can see it, like an online chat, a forum, or a public social media post. Want the full list of what counts? It's in Conversation #3.Left out
Your Side
The promises you make back. In the contract, these come after “I agree to.”
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Tell you about anything that gets flagged as concerning, so we can talk about what happened, and not jump to conclusions.Left out
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Not dig deeper into your online content than I need to in order to keep you safe.Left out
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Not punish you or overreact when you tell me about something before I find out on my own.Left out
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Practice what I preach, and put my own devices away during family time, while driving, in a restaurant, at the movies, or while talking with another human being, including you.Left out
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Approve apps and time extension requests in a timely manner, when it's reasonable to do so.Left out
If Either of You Breaks It
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If you break your side of this agreement, you'll lose access to the device or specific apps for a period of time, based on how serious it was.Left out
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If I break my side, you get an agreed-upon reward: .Left out
“I'm not taking everything away, but I am fitting the punishment to the crime.”
When You'll Revisit It
Kids grow, apps change, and rules that fit today won't fit forever. Pick a date to sit down and look at it again together.
“Set a date where you will revisit the discussion.”
Your Contract
This builds itself from your choices above. Print it, and sign it together.
Our Technology Use Contract
This agreement is between and for , starting .
We are so happy to let you use this new device! There are a few things you need to understand before you start using it.
Read each one together, then initial the box next to it.
The ground rules
You agree to
I agree to
If either of us breaks it
Every rule is unchecked right now. Check a few above and they'll show up here.
We'll sit down and revisit this agreement on .