KATHMANDU: All parents who have a toddler at home know what it takes to keep your little bundle of joy away from so many hazards especially from electronic devices. Children seem to have unique attraction towards these devices and not only is it dangerous for your children but also harmful for those appliances. Parents should have a ground rule that all electric appliances are not toys and thus should be handled by mum and dad only.

Here are some tips to help parents handle children and electronic appliances

•For toddlers a firm “No!” usually works. Further they know that hot hurts so you can say “it’s hot” when your toddler tries to touch electronic appliances like stereo or computer.

•As children learn to speak they get very curious about everything, so saying just “hot” might not be enough as they are bound to ask “Why?”. So you should explain them the hazards of a little child handling machines like a computer or CD player et cetera.

•Today no household can do without some appliances and it is better if you teach your children how to use some of them. But they should be told strictly to not mess with those appliances. For instance, teach them that only CDs should be used in a CD player, make sure your child doesn’t end up feeding biscuits or any other edibles to the CD/ DVD players.

•It is very important to make them understand that they need to ask permission from their parents before using any of the appliances.

•There are certain basic safety measures children should be made aware of - emphasise that no liquids should fall on the appliances. And also if the devices do anything unusual like start to smoke or crackle they should not touch it and call someone older immediately.

•Children who are old enough to use devices on their own should be told to unplug the computer and other delicate electronic equipment after use.

•Children should also be discouraged from eating or drinking while using the computer, since accidents with food are inevitable.

•Along with using, children should also be taught to take care of such devices like cleaning the TV or computer screen and also keeping all equipment dust free.

With these simple ways children will feel some ownership of these items, and will also help them learn to take care of their possessions as well.