As Tech Savvy Mama you might think that my children spend all day of every day on the computer or playing with the latest gadgets. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In our house, computer time is 30 minutes with 30 minutes of TV time in the afternoons so I can get dinner ready for our family. Some days it is even less or nonexistant if we are at the park, walking the neighbor’s dog, checking out books at the library, etc.
I’m a strong believer in play and outdoor time for our 2 children. The Waldorf preschool they attend is a testament to my personal belief despite the fact that I work with kids and teachers on using technology to enhance classroom instruction. Even though there is a huge disconnect between the Waldorf philosophy of no screen time for kids and what I do professionally, I also think that some screen time with quality websites helps Little Miss Techie develop her math, reading, and critical thinking skills.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Guernsey, author of Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children From Birth to Age 5 (great book about the impact of media on children’s brain development) and reporter for the New York Times.
Lisa wrote a fabulous and thoughtful article about a healthy media diet for kids in a special health section for the NYT.
And I’m not just saying that because she quoted yours truly about the conflicts that I’ve shared with you in our family!
Click here to read the full article and let me know how you make good choices to balance your child’s media diet.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about children and screentime.
Thanks for reading Tech Savvy Mama through your feed!
Original post by Tech Savvy Mama
©2012
I think kids should definitely be introduced to the internet and learn all they can from it. However, just like everything else – it’s important to mix that with everything else kids can learn from and make sure to monitor it. If it’s used right, children can benefit a lot from online resources.
Where Families Connect
Yes — moderation is key!
I work on The Green Hour web site for the National Wildlife Federation. Green Hour encourage parents to incorporate time in the outdoors at least for part of an hour everyday.
The irony is not lost on me that we are preaching reduction of screen-time — through a web site! I love the Internet and its potential to enrich lives .. if kept in balance with playing outside!
I’d love to get your — and your readers’ — opinion about our new resources for parents: http://www.greenhour.org and http://www.maketracks.org.
The latter site is related to a national event this weekend, where thousands of Americans have signed up to do a simple thing: take a walk!
Thanks for your blog entry about an important issue!
Anne Keisman
Online Media Coordinator
NWF, Green Hour