Five Challenges for Parents/Tips for Healthy Media Use
5 Challenges for Parents:
- Connect the dots between media and health. We don't tend to think that what our kids watch or download affects their overall health. But what they see and hear absolutely matters to their physical, mental, behavioral, and social development. We need to understand how media influences our kids' healthy and unhealthy behaviors.
- Media acts as a "super-peer," influencing and normalizing choices. Whether it's a rapper hawking champagne or a favorite TV star's scrawny physique, when kids see images and behaviors modeled by media stars, they begin to accept that what they see is "normal" or "real" or "okay." Kids need us to give them perspective on what's realistic, safe, and age appropriate.
- A healthy media diet means limits and balance. Who likes to say "no" to their kids? And what kid comes with moderation installed? Because media is such a huge part of children's lives, we can't just shut it out. Besides, it's fun and can be an important learning tool. But kids need limits and guidelines. Just as we don't let our kids eat junk food all day long, we need to give them healthy ground rules for choosing and using media.
- Marketers have outgunned us. Let's face it: Our kids are in the crosshairs from the moment they first press an ON button. Ads for junk food, clothing, alcohol, and cigarettes saturate their lives. Kids increasingly get their self-esteem and identity from what they own. We need to help kids understand that ads and entertainment encourage spending money on things that aren't always good for them.
- Media is everywhere, and it takes time and effort to help kids use it wisely. Our kids' media world is increasingly allencompassing, portable, and constantly changing. It's converging into a total media immersion. Through media, kids express themselves, meet friends, and discover the world. It's up to us to help our kids be media savvy and use media responsibly.
1. Establish Media Guidelines with Kids
- Set media time limits, and stick to them. Experts recommend no more than 1-2 hours per day of screen time.
- Check content and ratings in advance to choose ageappropriate media.
- Keep media out of kids' bedrooms. Locate media in a central place where children's use can be supervised.
- Make a no-media rule during mealtimes, while doing homework, and before bedtime.
- Consider using parental controls — blocking technology like the V-Chip for the TV, or filtering software for the Internet.
- Get kids into the habit of asking for permission to use media.
- Make sure babysitters and other caregivers know your guidelines for a healthy media diet.
- Hit the OFF button, and get kids to read, exercise, or play outdoors every day for the same amount of time they spend using media.
2. Use Media Together, and Talk About What You See, Hear, and Read
- Whenever you can, watch, play, listen, and surf with your kids and talk about the content. When you can't be there, ask them about the media they've used.
- Become media literate. Help kids question and analyze media messages by sharing your values. Let them know how you feel about solving problems with violence, stereotyping people, selling products using sex or cartoon characters, and advertising to kids in schools or in movie theaters.
- Help kids connect what they learn from the media to events and other activities in which they're involved — like playing sports and creating art — in order to broaden their understanding of the world.
3. Be a Role Model
- When kids are around, set an example by using media the way you want them to use it.
- Record any shows that you like to watch that may be inappropriate for your kids — even the news — and watch them when kids aren't around.
