Spring Connections 2017
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Being the Brave Parent<br />
TACKLING THE THORNY ISSUE OF SCREEN<br />
TIME WITHOUT FEAR.<br />
makes good sense, but it is even<br />
probably imagine, this risk<br />
more important to guide what<br />
they are doing with those<br />
increases as the children get<br />
older. Beyond video games,<br />
2<br />
BY HOLLY NOVICK<br />
Our world is awash in<br />
technology, and as parents, it is<br />
all too easy to feel overwhelmed<br />
by the task of keeping our<br />
children digitally safe. We are all<br />
busier than we should be, and<br />
the allure of the iPad babysitter is<br />
sometimes too much to resist. As<br />
our children grow older, we face<br />
comparisons to other families:<br />
“So-and-so’s mom lets her watch<br />
YouTube!” In those moments, it<br />
takes guts to do the right thing<br />
instead of the easy thing, but our<br />
children will thank us (eventually)<br />
if we lean in and pay close<br />
attention to what they are doing<br />
online and keep their screen<br />
content appropriate and safe.<br />
The American Academy of<br />
Pediatrics released new<br />
guidelines this year with smart<br />
limits for the amount of time<br />
children should be spending<br />
interacting with screens. The<br />
guidelines are straightforward:<br />
no screen time at all for children<br />
age 0-18 months, one hour per<br />
day for children age 2-5 years,<br />
and limited digital media for age<br />
6 and up. Limiting the amount of<br />
time children spend on cell<br />
phones, tablets, and computers<br />
minutes.<br />
This is a vital matter of quality<br />
vs. quantity. While we would<br />
much prefer to ignore it, the truth<br />
is that the internet can get really<br />
dark, really fast. It’s important to<br />
understand just how easy it is for<br />
children to see content that they<br />
are not emotionally or physically<br />
ready for. Here are a few<br />
sobering facts:<br />
Sexual Content. When it<br />
comes to sexual content,<br />
Psychology Today reports that<br />
“children as young as 8” are<br />
encountering inappropriate adult<br />
content on the web. It has also<br />
been demonstrated that the<br />
unfortunate normalization of<br />
such content is changing early<br />
romantic relationship dynamics<br />
and expectations in<br />
psychologically unhealthy ways<br />
(American College of<br />
Pediatricians).<br />
Violence. Time Health<br />
reports that “approximately 90%<br />
of children in the U.S. play video<br />
games, and more than 90% of<br />
those games involve mature<br />
content that often includes<br />
violence.” The age range for this<br />
percentage is truly telling: 2-17<br />
years old. The risk for exposure<br />
to negative behavior models,<br />
anything from bullying to murder,<br />
is too high to ignore. As you can<br />
violence has become a regular<br />
feature in television programming<br />
as well, and easily accessible<br />
through YouTube and Netflix.<br />
Dangerous behaviors.<br />
Did you know that 15-20% of<br />
U.S. kids intentionally inflict pain<br />
on their bodies? According to the<br />
American Academy of Pediatrics,<br />
the most common age is 12-17,<br />
but it can start as young as 7.<br />
There are self-harm clubs at<br />
schools and online, too, turning<br />
the behavior into a way to<br />
connect with others, to belong<br />
(New York Times).<br />
Adolescence is frequently<br />
when children first experiment<br />
with alcohol, tobacco, and other<br />
drugs, with nearly half of U.S.<br />
high school students regularly<br />
use one or more of these<br />
substances (CBS News). When<br />
combined with the fact that 90%<br />
of U.S. adults struggling with<br />
addiction began using substances<br />
before age 18, this becomes<br />
more than the “everybody tries it<br />
once” phenomenon (U.S. News<br />
and World Report). The majority<br />
of teen social interaction is<br />
electronic now, which means<br />
careful monitoring of texts and<br />
app use will often alert parents if<br />
their child is trying something<br />
dangerous.