Parent Tips

Media & Today's Children

pdfDownload a printable PDF version of Common Sense Tips for a Healthy Media Diet


Common Sense Tips for a Healthy Media Diet

Establish media guidelines with kids

  • Set media time limits and stick to them. Experts recommend no more than one to two hours per day of screen time.
  • Check content and ratings in advance to choose media that is age-appropriate.
  • Keep media out of kids' bedrooms. Locate media in a central place where children's media 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 television or filtering software for the Internet.
  • Get kids into the habit of asking permission to use media.
  • Make sure babysitters and other caregivers know the guidelines for a healthy media diet.
  • Push the remote button to "off" and get kids to read, exercise or play outdoors every day for the same amount of time they spend using media.

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.
  • Practice media literacy—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, or advertising to kids in schools or in movie theaters.
  • Help kids connect what they learn in 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.

Be a role model

  • When kids are around, set an example by using media the way you want them to use it.
  • Use the VCR or TiVo™ to record your favorite shows that may be inappropriate for kids to watch—even the news—and watch them at a later time when kids are not around.

Voice your opinion and keep informed

  • Write a letter or send an email to let media companies and government representatives know what you like and don't like about media. Make sure to also let advertisers who sponsor the media know how you feel too. And don't forget to compliment when you like something and would like to see more of it!
  • Help kids write letters when they want people who produce media to know how they feel.
  • Keep informed about policy and research concerning children and media.

pdfDownload a printable PDF version of Common Sense Tips for a Healthy Media Diet