of active media supervision allows parents to guide their children through the world of screens, and it’s been shown to have tremendous benefits in terms of behavior, academic success, and even physical health. This process also allows parents to understand more about the fantasy world of their
“Don’t feel guilty about the increase in your child’s screen time.”
Teens and Screens T
Experts Weigh in on Safe Use
he nonprofit Children and Screens asked experts to share their best advice for parents raising adolescents in the midst of the global pandemic. Here is what they said.
The Devil’s in the Details “While it’s important to monitor the amount of time your child spends with screens, it’s even more important to monitor what they’re actually doing with that time. Talking with friends? Encourage it. Writing a journal? Experimenting with music? Wonderful. Support your child’s need for friendship and creativity while also helping them understand that time away from distractions, time for solitude and mind-wandering, is something you value. Screens open our worlds except when they take us away from ourselves. Getting this balance right means you and your children 12 SonomaFamilyLife
are talking, and in my view, if that’s happening, the rest will follow. And what really helps: no screens at dinner. Consider dinner to be a sacred space, a place for conversation.”—Sherry Turkle, professor, MIT; author, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (Basic Books, 2012) and Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age (Penguin, 2016) Lead the Way “Now is a great time for parents to play video games, watch movies and TV shows, and explore the world of social media with their kids. This kind
—Patti M. Valkenburg
kids, and it offers the chance for a healthy role reversal, one in which the child becomes the teacher and the parent can model good learning practices.”—Paul Weigle, M.D., child and adolescent psychiatrist, associate medical director of Natchaug Hospital, Hartford HealthCare Turn Off the News “In order to limit the negative, try setting limits on [students’] time reading news apps. At a certain point, they’re more likely to raise their blood pressure and increase their anxiety by mindlessly bingeing the news than they are to actually learn anything.”— Dr. Larry Rosen, professor emeritus of psychology Take a Break “Don’t feel guilty about the increase in your child’s screen time. As the New York Times recently reported: ‘Coronavirus ended the screen-time debate. And screens won.’ That means kids and parents alike face increased risk for physical side effects, including nearsightedness, computer vision syndrome, and neck and back problems. … [P]arents should insist
June 2020 www.sonomafamilylife.com
