This is the first update that the AAP has given since 2001, which means that these updates are now occurring among a wave of tablets and other portable devices that weren't nearly as popular or widespread just ten years ago.
The new guidelines suggest the following for parents:
- Limit "entertainment screen time" (a distinction that wasn't present in the earlier recommendations) to less than two hours per day; discourage the use of screens at all in children under 2
- Model appropriate technological behaviors for children
- Make a media plan that includes prohibition of screens in bedrooms and during mealtimes
"Challenge the entertainment industry to create positive content for children and teens, and advocate for strong rules about how products are marketed to youth."
As my previous writings on the subject have probably made clear, I am at an odd intersection on this one. I unabashedly love pop culture and media in its infinite forms. Personally, I am consuming media several hours of the day. I run while listening to an audiobook; I listen to music while I cook and clean; I watch television regularly. I don't think that my own media use is the problem it's sometimes made out to be.
PhD in Parenting has a great post on this subject exploring why we are so quick to call a mother who reads a blog while her children play at her feet "inattentive" while we wouldn't bat an eye if she were reading a paperback instead.
So, I do think that some of our fears and anxiety are just overblown hand-wringing that have accompanied every new technology that has ever existed.
That said, I also think that it is immensely important that we are aware of the messages that our children are receiving. I love media so much because it grants me the opportunity to explore the world around me in far-reaching ways. It's very important that we remember our children may not be so well-equipped for those journeys, especially when the content involved includes violence and messages about body image and identity.
The media we consume (especially when it is inundated with advertisements) is designed to send us some very specific messages. If we don't consciously question those messages, it's very easy to fall victim to them--and that's true for adults. Children are even more susceptible to them because they don't yet have the analytical cognitive abilities and practice or the life experiences to put them to the test.
I do believe that how much screen time our children gets matters (and I try to limit my own daughter's screen time to something close to the recommendations), but I think it matters far more what they watch.
That's why I am happy to see the AAP's recommendations for advocacy and pressure on the entertainment industry, but I don't know why that recommendation does not also extend to parents. We should be demanding better for our children, and we should--above all--vote with our wallets. Don't buy media that doesn't send the messages you think deserve to be sent. Buy media that does. The market will follow our demands.
My only real question about the AAP recommendations is whether they are set too low to be of much use. The AAP themselves admit that the actual usage of electronics by kids far surpasses their recommendations. Even children in the youngest category (including infants) now have access to screens at increasing rates. Most kids report spending 8 hours or more a day on "entertainment media." Once multitasking is taken into effect (surfing the web while watching TV, for instance), it's a collective 11 hours a day on average (or all of their waking hours). The AAP says there should be no screen time for children under 2, yet there are entire television stations and websites dedicated to this age group.
It's clear that the AAP guidelines aren't being followed by many people, and I worry that the recommendations are so far removed from most parents' realities that they won't seem applicable at all. Our media landscape has undergone drastic changes, and the risks and benefits are amorphous, especially since some of the impacts can't be measured until the current group of children become adults. Still, it seems to me like our recommendations and expectations need to be tempered by actuality.
How can we ensure that our children get the healthiest combination of media literacy and media limits? Are the AAP guidelines realistic for you and your household?
Challenge
the entertainment industry to create positive content for children and
teens, and advocate for strong rules about how products are marketed to
youth. - See more at:
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Managing-Media-We-Need-a-Plan.aspx#sthash.1gfy8uOX.dpuf
Challenge
the entertainment industry to create positive content for children and
teens, and advocate for strong rules about how products are marketed to
youth. - See more at:
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Managing-Media-We-Need-a-Plan.aspx#sthash.1gfy8uOX.dpuf
Photo: sharyn morrow
Challenge
the entertainment industry to create positive content for children and
teens, and advocate for strong rules about how products are marketed to
youth. - See more at:
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Managing-Media-We-Need-a-Plan.aspx#sthash.1gfy8uOX.dpuf
Challenge
the entertainment industry to create positive content for children and
teens, and advocate for strong rules about how products are marketed to
youth. - See more at:
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Managing-Media-We-Need-a-Plan.aspx#sthash.1gfy8uOX.dpuf
For us, we really tried to limit it when the kids were younger because at least with our son, it seemed to have an almost heroine-like effect on him. He'd watch a little, and he'd want more. He'd get cranky and act like he was "coming down" when it was taken away. I do think when they're really young, the fast movement and light from screens makes a difference in their development. Tactile and real world experience is so important.
ReplyDeleteThat said, now that the kids are 9 and almost 11, they're media junkies. But part of the reason I allow it is because they use it creatively. My daughter uses google drive to store everything she writes, and my son makes stop-action movies. They even have a youtube channel. They're so much more technologically sophisticated than I am. It's sort of disturbing.
I can't even imagine what it looks like when children spend 8-11 hours a day on entertainment media. Don't they go to school, or outside? I don't know anyone's household that resembles this.
ReplyDelete