What Every Parent Should Know About Screen Time: Expert Advice
Originally published on CBC Parents.
Editor's note: There is so much conflicting information about screen time, and a lot of it serves to make us feel guilty, worried or both. We asked the Director of Education at Media Smarts (Canada's Centre for Digital and Media Literacy), Matthew Johnson, to give us the straight goods on the latest info. What is the big deal with screen time? Here's his response.
Family films part one – What we’re watching
I have a post coming soon about New Year’s resolutions, but first I wanted to write a little about one of our own. This year, I’ve resolved to watch more films. (Yes, more!) It might sound a little strange at a time when many of us are struggling to convince our own children to put down their devices and consume less screen time, but there it is.
Movies - The Concerns
In this section, we examine some concerns related to the movies kids enjoy and we offer tips for talking about problematic film content such as violence and gender and racial stereotyping.
Family films part two – Finding films and illegal downloads
Yesterday’s post was about our resolution to watch more films this year. This post is a bit about the sources of those films and the issue of illegal downloads.
Dealing with fear and media
Research has found that these things are most likely to be scary to children: