Archive for the ‘American Academy of Pediatrics’ Category
Posted by Marti Weston on February 17, 2012
Today the medium is a lot less about a message and more about the toys!
Just about everyone — parents, teachers, grandparents, youth leaders — should read the New York Times article, Hasbro, Intent on Expanding Its Toy Brands, Is Playing All the Angles.
The days of interesting television shows with good story plots are fast disappearing because many of today’s shows are a composite of toys and programming about those toys.
Concerned parents and other adults may want to consider additional limits on television and carefully evaluate whether the end result of a toy or game purchase is simply more television watching.
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, marketing to kids, media literacy, parents and technology | Tagged: Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, digital kids, digital parenting, marketing to chidren, New York Time, television, toys and games | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on February 7, 2012
Read the bill.
Today, February 7, 2012, take a few minutes to ask your United States Representative to support the Do Not Track Kids Act, a bill that seeks to prevent the tracking and collecting of kids’ online information and activities.
Parents and educators know how much children and teens love to explore the digital world, and that’s not going to change. What needs to change is the way companies collect information about kids’ digital activities and then use it for marketing purposes, much of it exploitative. The Do Not Track Kids Act aims to stop tracking the activities of children and adolescents and encourages companies to adopt a Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens.
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, Do Not Track Kids Act, kids changing lives, online tracking, parents and technology, privacy | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital kids, digital parenting, Do Not Track Kids Act, online tracking, privacy, tracking kids, United States House of Representatives | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on November 30, 2011
I’ve just read a November 28, 2011 Bloomberg article, iPad Crazed Toddlers Spur Holiday Sales. OK, the title is a bit overly dramatic, but it’s an interesting read, describing the demand for tablets of all kinds and kids’ motivation to use them.
Seriously, though, the tone of the article makes me worry a bit. As a confirmed techie, gadget lover, educational technology specialist, teacher, and parent, I know that children also need lots of outside play time and plenty of experiences working/playing with others. We don’t know what the jobs will be in 15 years when these kids are looking for employment, but we do know that their superior technology skills will matter little if they don’t have great people skills — understanding how to share, take turns, and work collaboratively.
The article reminds parents about the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations about no screen time (or very little of it) for children under two years of age. And please — this is a plea from me — avoid, as much as possible, using these digital devices as electronic pacifiers, the term used in the article by Victoria Nash of the Oxford Internet Institute (England).
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital devices and gadgets, digital parenting, parents and technology, tech free time | Tagged: American Academy of Pediatrics, digital devices, digital kids, digital parenting, Goodnight iPad, iPad | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on October 26, 2011
Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America, p 11
The New York Times has reported on a Common Sense Media (CSM) sponsored study, Zero to Eight, Children’s Media Use in America (PDF). The Times article, Screen Time Higher Than Ever for Children, describes the study and points out that kids are in front of a screen more than ever despite the recommendations of their doctors.
After reading this I am feeling a bit more pessimistic than usual. Adults are used to tossing health caution to the wind for themselves, but we were vigilant about protecting the health of our children. Now we seem to disregard the recommendations of pediatricians — the very people who can help us do the most possible to ensure that our kids grown into strong and productive adults. Are we as a society less and less concerned about the development of strong minds? Times reporter Tamar Lewin writes:
Despite the American Academy of Pediatrics’ longstanding recommendations to the contrary, children under 8 are spending more time than ever in front of screens…
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, answers to media questions, digital devices and gadgets, media literacy, parents and technology | Tagged: American Academy of Pediatrics, Ari Brown, children, Common Sense Media, James Steyer, media, media literacy, screen time | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on October 20, 2011
Yesterday I wrote about a newspaper article that described the updated American Academy of Pediatrics media recommendations for children under two years of age. Here’s the direct link to the updated policy statement, Media Use by Children Younger Than 2 Years from the journal Pediatrics. The entire document is easily accessible and free, about four pages of reading plus footnotes.
A Few Quotes from the Document
- The educational merit of media for children younger than 2 years remains unproven despite the fact that three-quarters of the top-selling infant videos make explicit or implicit educational claims. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, parents and technology, television | Tagged: AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics, babies, digital parenting, media recommendations, screen time, toddlers | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on October 18, 2011
Click to check out these American Academy of Pediatrics resources.
Read No TV for Children Under 2 Doctors’ Group Urges, in the October 18, 2011 New York Times. This isn’t a new recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), just a reminder of how seriously they believe in their media literacy recommendations.
I don’t mention this often, but 30 years ago when our television broke, we had a new baby and not enough money, so we decided to put off the purchase of a new TV. The delay went on for six years until our daughter was seven years old. Originally we did not make a decision out of any deep philosophical principles — and back then there was a lot less research about the effect of TV-watching on young children — we simply did not have money that we wanted to spend on a new set just then (or we had other things we wanted to purchase — I really don’t remember). However, gradually we forgot our plans to purchase a new television because we liked what happened in our family.
We read more, we listened to music more, we ate less junk food, and during the times we were at home, we played lots of games and went to the park almost every day after we returned from work. By age 2-and-a-half our daughter could beat both of us at any memory game we put out on the table. We also read aloud, all the time. In fact, we read so much that sometimes we needed to go to the public library twice a week. Listening to the radio, sometimes NPR and at other times classical or oldies was a regular activity, and we went to movies.
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, media literacy, parents and technology, tech free time, television | Tagged: American Academy of Pediatrics, digital kids, digital parenting, media literacy, screen time, television, TV | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on May 7, 2011
Download the phone contract PDF.
It’s May and every year at this time I work extensively with fifth graders on podcasts and other multimedia projects. Each year the students’ conversations drift toward their anticipation of sixth grade, middle school … and new cell phones. A connection exists, in their minds, between the first year of Middle School and getting the all-important digital accessory. Actually the kids feel it’s an accessory, but their parents consider it a lifeline — something to keep them connected to their children whenever it’s necessary (and sometime when it isn’t that necessary).
A good getting-started article to read is the New York Times piece, When to Buy Your Child a Cell Phone, written by reporter Stephanie Olsen in June 2010. While quite a few children now have cell phones in sixth grade, a few parents prefer to wait to purchase a child’s phone for a year or so beyond the start of Middle School. Common Sense Media’s cell phone page provides lots of helpful information for parents, including a short video to assist with the decision-making process. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Healthy Children website also has an article, Cell Phones, What’s the Right Age?
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Posted in acceptable use, American Academy of Pediatrics, cell phones, digital citizenship, digital devices and gadgets, digital parenting, digital photography, parents and technology | Tagged: AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics, cell phone, cell phone contract, child's age, Common Sense Media, digital devices, digital parenting, kids and phones, middle school, mobile phone, My Secure Cyberspace | 2 Comments »
Posted by Marti Weston on March 29, 2011
Who writes these headlines? The American Academy of Pediatrics comes out with a balanced, well-written, and thoughtful social media guide for physicians – one that encourages pediatricians to focus on wellness by paying attention to the media and social media activities of their patients, and this is the headline (at Time)?
“Facebook depression” is a small part of the policy statement, but the benefits and the learning opportunities offered by social media are a larger part. Rather than focusing on the positives and on the recommendations for moderation, the media is shouting out the negatives. My fifth grade media literacy students can run circles around these headline writers.
A Health Day article, published at Bloomberg Business Week features a headline that is balanced and far more sensible.
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, media literacy, parent education, parents and technology, social media, social networking | Tagged: AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics, headlines, media literacy, pediatricians, policy statement, Social media | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on March 29, 2011
AAP Media History Form
This morning I was thrilled to read the newest American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy focusing on social media and children. The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents and Families, written by a group of pediatricians and led by Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe (also the author of CyberSafe: Protecting and Empowering Digital Kids in the World of Texting, Gaming and Social Media), provides a set of social media guidelines for physicians to use with teen and tween patients as well as with parents. Published in March 28, 2011 edition of the journal Pediatrics, the social media statement describes the benefits and risks of the digital world, avoids judgmental comments, and suggests strategies that can make is safer for children.
For members of the American Academy of Pediatrics the social media policy adds one more element to a set of well-crafted and well-researched policy recommendations that aim to help physicians guide adolescents as they traverse a fast-changing digital landscape. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in acceptable use, American Academy of Pediatrics, digital citizenship, digital parenting, parent education, parents and technology, social media, social networking | Tagged: AAP, adolescents, American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, pediatrics, Social media, social networking, teens | Leave a Comment »
