Link to Original Article
2.16.2010
“Younger and younger children are now in charge of how they consume media, and they are mostly consuming junk,” explains child psychiatrist, Dr. Eitan Schwarz, MD. “Excessive consumption can cause emotional difficulties, as well as result from existing ones. Children need the thoughtful, active and positive guidance of their parents in this amazing Wild-West tech environment. Merely restricting access is just not enough.”
Kids and Tech – Tips for Parents:
· Take Charge – Have confidence and take charge. Youcan manage this important area of your kids’ lives. Many parents too readily take a back seat and let kids take the lead. In what other important area of life would they let that happen?
· Media are Appliances – Start thinking of media as family appliances that must have positive values. Kids treat media as toys, but they are in fact adult tools with enormous power. Would you let your unsupervised young child use the telephone or oven? Only devices with proven benefits belong in children’s hands.
· Technology is Healthy – From infancy onwards, teach kids to appreciate technology as a healthy and routine part of family life. Starting young, children will learn that using technology is collaborative and social — and not an isolating solitary activity.
· Include the Whole Family – Create a new environment around the online family computer and other media to promote mutuality, fun, respect, and development for the entire family. Moving the home computer away from the wall and arranging seating all around it will make it a popular center for family life.
· Make Media a Positive Learning Tool – Just as you already shop for healthy food, harvest the positive opportunities offered by media. For example, for every age group there are wonderful internet sites that offer a world of learning entertainment experiences.
· Create Healthy Media Rules – Tailor healthy media diets into daily menus for each child to provide development opportunities. For example, regularly require enough online time on sites that enhance good values and education enrichment.
Eitan D. Schwarz, MD FAACA DLFAPA is a doctor who knows kids, media, and families. He is board-certified in both general and child and adolescent psychiatry. He has recently researched the use of digital media in play therapy with children. See http://www.mydigitalfamily.org/.
Dr. Schwarz is the author of Kids, Parents, and Technology: An Instruction Manual for Young Families.
*Data is from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Taming the Tech-Wild Child
Link to Original Article
2.16.2010
“Younger and younger children are now in charge of how they consume media, and they are mostly consuming junk,” explains child psychiatrist, Dr. Eitan Schwarz, MD. “Excessive consumption can cause emotional difficulties, as well as result from existing ones. Children need the thoughtful, active and positive guidance of their parents in this amazing Wild-West tech environment. Merely restricting access is just not enough.”
Kids and Tech – Tips for Parents:
· Take Charge – Have confidence and take charge. Youcan manage this important area of your kids’ lives. Many parents too readily take a back seat and let kids take the lead. In what other important area of life would they let that happen?
· Media are Appliances – Start thinking of media as family appliances that must have positive values. Kids treat media as toys, but they are in fact adult tools with enormous power. Would you let your unsupervised young child use the telephone or oven? Only devices with proven benefits belong in children’s hands.
· Technology is Healthy – From infancy onwards, teach kids to appreciate technology as a healthy and routine part of family life. Starting young, children will learn that using technology is collaborative and social — and not an isolating solitary activity.
· Include the Whole Family – Create a new environment around the online family computer and other media to promote mutuality, fun, respect, and development for the entire family. Moving the home computer away from the wall and arranging seating all around it will make it a popular center for family life.
· Make Media a Positive Learning Tool – Just as you already shop for healthy food, harvest the positive opportunities offered by media. For example, for every age group there are wonderful internet sites that offer a world of learning entertainment experiences.
· Create Healthy Media Rules – Tailor healthy media diets into daily menus for each child to provide development opportunities. For example, regularly require enough online time on sites that enhance good values and education enrichment.
Eitan D. Schwarz, MD FAACA DLFAPA is a doctor who knows kids, media, and families. He is board-certified in both general and child and adolescent psychiatry. He has recently researched the use of digital media in play therapy with children. See http://www.mydigitalfamily.org/.
Dr. Schwarz is the author of Kids, Parents, and Technology: An Instruction Manual for Young Families.
*Data is from the Kaiser Family Foundation.