Dear Commons Community,
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a policy brief that recommends limiting children’s use of media including television, cell phones, and computers. The report cites a Kaiser Family foundation study indicating that the average 8- to 10-year-old spends nearly 8 hours a day with a variety of different media, and older children and teenagers spend > 11 hours per day. The brief recommends that parents should:
- Limit the amount of total entertainment screen time to 1 to 2 hours per day.
- Discourage screen media exposure for children < 2 years of age.
- Keep the TV set and Internet-connected electronic devices out of the child’s bedroom.
- Monitor what media their children are using and accessing, including any Websites they are visiting and social media sites they may be using.
- Coview TV, movies, and videos with children and teenagers, and use this as a way of discussing important family values.
- Model active parenting by establishing a family home use plan for all media. As part of the plan, enforce a mealtime and bedtime “curfew” for media devices, including cell phones. Establish reasonable but firm rules about cell phones, texting, Internet, and social media use
The Academy is making an important contribution to our dialogue of media use and children. I am not sure that we don’t need something similar for adults.
Tony
