Family rules — a draft · البرمجة مع مارتن

Rules are not a ban on the internet

Family rules are a short agreement. Not “never a phone”. Nobody keeps that. More like five sentences everyone in the family can say — even a younger sibling, even a parent who sometimes forgets.

The rules hang on the fridge, in a parent’s notes, or on paper in a drawer. Not in chat. Not in a public photo. Paper by the fridge is at home. Chat gets forwarded.

Good rules are:

short — one sentence, not a paragraph
concrete — “phone lock” instead of “be careful”
for everyone — a parent does not send a Facebook password either

This is the main project 🏠 Family rules. Today you are not making the final version. You are making a draft. A parent will edit it with you. In a week you will read it again.

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When a rule sounds like a punishment, nobody will say it out loud. When it sounds like the reflex at a crossing — “I look, I decide” — it holds even under stress.

Five drafts you can start with

Take from the course what you already know. Change the words so it sounds like your family.

Phone lock — the PIN is not a date. I do not lend an unlocked phone “just for a minute”.
كلمة المرور — I do not send it in chat, I do not photograph it, I do not lend an account. Each service a different password.
Photos — a photo of someone else only with permission. I do not send nastiness on.
Prizes and links — when it rushes and wants a password or money, I do not click. I show a parent.
An adult — I may come, even if it is awkward. First is a parent, then a teacher.

You do not have to have exactly these five. You can swap one for: In the evening the phone goes to the charger in the living room. What matters is that everyone knows what is on the paper.

How to do it with a parent

Sit down. Phone aside. Paper and a pencil. Not a tablet with rules that vanish in notifications.

You propose the first version — five sentences. Short. No neighbours’ names.
A parent adds or changes one sentence. For example: A parent does not send passwords into groups either.
Read the whole list out loud. If something sounds weird, change a word. “I do not lend an account” is clearer than “I respect digital identity”.
Paper on the fridge or into a drawer with a parent. Date at the top. In a month you open it again.

What to say to a sibling

“This is not because you were naughty. It is so we know what to do when a weird message arrives. You can come too.”

A younger sibling does not have to understand everything. One sentence they can say is enough: “I will show mum.”

What rules are not

They are not a contest for who breaks more rules. They are not a reason to argue for an hour. They are not a replacement for a conversation. When something happens, the rule says what next: I do not click, I do not send, I tell an adult.

Now you 💪

Write a draft of five sentences. Go through them with a parent and change one sentence so the family will actually say it.

Five sentences on paper. A pencil. Not chat.
A parent edits one sentence. You edit one sentence. The final version = a compromise, not your dictation.
Read them out loud. Hang them on the fridge or put them in a drawer. Do not put a photo of the rules on Instagram — there are no passwords on the paper, but it is still a home thing.

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Check: You have a draft of five sentences. Everyone knows where the paper is. Rules are an agreement, not a punishment.

What to take from this lesson

Five short sentences > a long law book.
Rules hold for parents too (passwords, photos).
Paper by the fridge, not chat.
I may come, even if it is awkward.