Help for parents
For parents seeking guidance on their family’s media use, James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, suggests:› “No. 1 is role-modeling your own behavior so kids can learn from that … When your kids are around, you have to use media the way you want them to use it,” he says.› Have times and places set aside that exclude all media devices. Steyer suggests family dinners, an hour or two before bedtime and, of course, never while driving. › Use media with your kids and be engaged. “Learn from them, ask them questions, have an ongoing conversation,” he says, including on topics they may be uncomfortable addressing, such as sex and drugs. “Media can give you a lot of teachable moments, if you use it wisely,” Steyer says.
Parents spend more than nine hours a day with TVs, computers and other screen devices while also giving themselves high marks as role models for their children’s media use, according to a recent survey.
Among all those surveyed – nearly 1,800 parents in the U.S. – daily screen time averaged nine hours and 22 minutes, with the bulk of that, seven hours and 43 minutes, categorized as personal screen time and the other roughly 90 minutes spent on work.
The study also found they were enthusiastic about technology’s role in their kids’ lives but wary of the risks it may hold, including loss of sleep and online oversharing. Researchers from the nonprofit Common Sense Media group and Northwestern University’s Center on Media and Human Development conducted the project.
Two-thirds of those surveyed, 67 percent, says monitoring their children’s devices and social media accounts is more important than allowing them privacy.