More follow-up from Devorah Heitner’s webinar Strategies for Using Digital Technologies at Home from the Erikson Institute. I’m taking a few of her points and making individual blog posts out of them, but I highly recommend checking out the recording.
Family Culture around technology:
- She recommends that families pay attention to how they use media and technology on a weekend day and a weekday.
- Do children get up earlier than parents? If so, are how are they interacting with media independently?
- What about mealtimes? Every family is different–be careful not to shame families who do not have dinner together regularly.
- How do families monitor content for different age/sensitivity levels of children (sometimes it is not always the youngest child who is most sensitive to violence, for instance). How do siblings take care of each other in this regard?
- What about caregivers in the home? Do parents talk with babysitters, nannies, or family members coming into their home about the media use that they would like for their children?
- Being aware of what adults are modeling is important. In her work with middle school students, she said that kids say that it can be hard to get through the cloud of technology to get their parents’ attention. You don’t have to completely give up using technology, but be conscious about it, make a plan with your child for when and how.