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Tips for a Healthy Media Diet
Filed under: Media, Expert Advice: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Expert Advice: Big Kids, Expert Advice: Teens
Help kids connect what they learn in the media to events and other activities in which they're involved. Credit: Getty Images
Help kids question and analyze media messages and share your own 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 movie theaters.
Help kids connect what they learn in the media to events and other activities in which they're involved, such as playing sports and creating art, in order to broaden their understanding of the world.
The facts
- Forty-three percent of children younger than 2 watch TV every day, according to a 2007 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
- Kids 8 to 18 spend more than an hour a day on the computer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
- Kids who watch more TV than their peers during middle and high school years have less healthy diets five years later, according to a 2009 study by the University of Minnesota.
- Girls with a heavy sexual media diet engage in sexual activity younger than their peers, according to a 2007 poll by Harris Interactive.
- Children who watch between two and four hours of TV a day are two-and-a-half times more likely to have high blood pressure, according to a 2007 study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
When kids are around, set an example by using media the way you want them to use it. Don't bring cell phones and BlackBerries to the dinner table, turn the TV off when it's not actively being watched. Use a VCR or TiVo to record shows that may be inappropriate for your kids to watch -- even the news -- and watch them at a later time when kids are not around.
Keep an eye on the clock
Media is fun and our kids love it, but kids can have too much of a good thing. Keep an eye on how long kids spend online, in front of the TV, watching movies or playing video games. The secret to healthy media use is to establish time limits and stick to them -- before your kids turn on and tune in.
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Get more information for parents on media and technology by checking out Common Sense Media.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
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