From the Wildcat Weekly - March 7, 2024

Create a Family Media Plan - (AAP)

The best way to manage everyone's screen use in your home is by being proactive rather than reactive. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a wonderful resource on their website that allows you to create a Family Media Plan. Following a series of prompts as shown below, families can have age appropriate conversations with their children about screen use establishing an agreed-upon framework for technology and screen use. This is a wonderful start in establishing boundaries while children are still young.

You can use this link to get started.

From the Wildcat Weekly - February 22, 2024

 As students shared this week during our lesson about "real" versus "fake" websites, I wanted to follow-up with a specific suggestion related to technology use in the home. Prior to wireless technology, the recommendation was to put the family computer in a common area of the home. In this way, even though you might not be sitting with your child constantly while they were using the Internet or playing games, you were always within earshot or could randomly look to see what was on the screen. However, with tablets, laptops, and smartphones, this practice becomes more complicated but also more important. Although your K-2 student might seem to easily navigate apps, games, and websites, they are really more like underage drivers without a license. Establishing expectations now while your child is young and when they assume you are watching and seeing everything they’re doing and talking to them about it, will help to normalize your involvement when they are older and exposed to much more problematic material.