By Caroline Knorr, commonsensemedia.org
 
Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology. We exist because our kids are growing up in a culture that profoundly impacts their physical, social, and emotional well-being. We provide families with the advice and media reviews they need in order to make the best choices for their children. Through our education programs and policy efforts, Common Sense Media empowers parents, educators, and young people to become knowledgeable and responsible digital citizens. For more information, go to: www.commonsense.org.
 
Learn the secrets to a well-balanced media diet!
 
What’s a healthy media diet?
A healthy media diet means balancing three things: What the kids do, how much time they spend doing it, and making age-appropriate content choices when they visit. Now that kids interact with media through personal technologies that increasingly put them in charge of selecting their own entertainment, it’s never been more important to maintain oversight.
 
Learning how to have a balanced diet is a critical life skill—as important as eating right, learning to swim, or driving a car. Fortunately, because there are so many choices now, it’s gotten easier to find healthy ways to say “yes.”
 
Why does it matter?
Media and technology run right through the center of our nieces’ and nephews’ lives. And what kids see and do profoundly impacts their emotional, physical, and social development. Media acts as a super-peer for kids, giving them a sense of what’s normal, desirable, or cool. But the messages in media may not be what you and your family value, so if you don’t get involved and help the kids learn to think critically about role models, activities, and media content, then they’re absorbing things unquestionably that you might want them to question.
 
In addition, since media and technology have become the way the kids socialize and communicate, Aunties should help them learn what is and isn’t responsible behavior. Kids need to be able to balance the potential in online or mobile communication with the wisdom they need to use these powerful tools in ways that don’t hurt others or become addictive.
 
How to give your nieces and nephews a healthy media diet…
With so many new programs and technology coming out all the time—many of which are aimed at kids—it’s hard to tell what’s good, what’s age-appropriate, and what has the “nutritional value” to entertain—and hopefully, educate, the kids.
 
But by keeping three simple rules in mind, you can help serve them a healthy media diet. Here’s how:
 
1. Use media together.
Whenever you can, watch, play, and listen with the kids. Talk about content. When you can’t be there, ask them about the media they’ve used. Help kids question and analyze media messages. Share your own values. Let them know how you feel about solving problems with violence, stereotyping people, selling products using sex or cartoon characters, or advertising to kids in schools or movie theaters. Help kids connect what they learn in the media to events and other activities in which they’re involved—like playing sports and creating art—in order to broaden their understanding of the world.
 
2. Be a role model.
When kids are around, set an example by using media the way you want them to use it. Don’t bring your phone to the table to eat, and turn the television off when it’s not actively being watched. Record shows that may be inappropriate for your nieces and nephews to watch when they come over—even the news—and watch them later, after the kids return home.
 
3. Keep an eye on the clock.
Keep an eye on how long the kids spend online, in front of the television, watching movies, and playing video games. The secret to healthy media use is to establish time limits and stick to them—before the kids turn on and tune in.

Published: January 8, 2013