I’ve been thinking more about the new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the great deal of bad news it has about our kids. For example: “Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week).” The report adds that children who use the most media state they are getting lower grades, get in trouble a lot and are sad or unhappy, when compared to peers who are less plugged in.
So what is the good news? The good news is this: parent involvement makes a difference. “Only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend watching TV (28%) or playing video games (30%), and 36% say the same about using the computer. But when parents do set limits, children spend less time with media: those with any media rules consume nearly 3 hours less media per day (2:52) than those with no rules.“ (emphasis added)
It is heartening know, that even as the media explosion has exposed our children to more and more influences from outside the home, parents can still make a positive impact. That’s huge news, and I’ve been pondering the potential positive effects of mobilizing more parents to set media limits in their homes. If the KFF is finding that only three in ten young people have rules about TV, video games and computer use, imagine what would happen if we increased that number to six, seven or even eight out of ten. That would have an enormous effect on our children and our family life.
I have friends who are parents of teenagers, and they shut off their wireless internet at 10:oo p.m. every evening. Other parents take away phones at bedtime so their kids won’t text through the night. Many families turn off the TV during meal times. Kids are apt to complain about these kinds of rules – that’s their job, isn’t it? But in the end, telling your kids why you are making the rules, and having family meetings to review and revise rules as needed, will show your kids that you care about them.
What media rules do you have at your house? Share your ideas here and with other parents. Let’s work together to increase the number of kids who have media rules at home! I am determined not to be depressed by the bad news brought to us by the KFF’s study. Instead I am energized to activate parents!
