Common Sense Media, a not-for-profit advocacy organization designed for families, offers trustworthy information, media evaluations, and all sort of online tools to help parents, kids, and educators become more sophisticated consumers. Think of Common Sense Media as an information portal rather than a mere website. Parents, no matter the age of children in the family, can consult the organization’s web site for age appropriate information about movies, current media events, digital citizenship advice, and much more. A separate part of the website provides information for educators and schools. Common Sense Media is non-partisan, and you can learn more at the Common Sense Media FAQ.
A few of the organizational core beliefs (others can be found at the website) include:
- We believe in media sanity, not censorship.
- We believe in teaching our kids to be savvy, respectful and responsible media interpreters, creators, and communicators. We can’t cover their eyes but we can teach them to see.
- We believe that the price for free and open media is a bit of extra homework for families. Parents need to know about the media their kids use and need to teach responsible, ethical behavior as well as manage overall media use.
This postcard, with media “rules of the road” — for adults and children — just arrived in my snail mail. Consider posting these rules in your home during the back-to-school season. A larger copy of the graphic is below.
Media! Tech! Parenting! 