Screen Time Putting Kids on a "Screen Time Diet"

Helping our children to have balanced life is one of the most important jobs a parent has.  I teach at a science and technology magnet school so the topic of screen time is near and dear to my heart.  There is wonderful technology available today for educational and entertain uses but it is clear that many children spend too much time in front of screens.  I only use technology in my classroom after I researched the value of it and the appropriate use of it. I have seen families that are showing DVDs in cars as early as 6:30 in the morning. My first thought is wouldn't it be better to chat with your child, sing songs or look for things along your drive.  Parents and children have only so much time together and truly after the children are teenagers they really want to spend time with their peers rather than their parents.  When we got our most recent van my children wanted a DVD player.  Neither my husband or myself wanted that option. We believe the car is a great place for conversation after all as the kids grow it may be one of the few places you are all together.  Children today seem to have poorer social skills than they did awhile ago.  They anger easily and they are often unwilling to compromise on the other hand children who have conversations with adults and children have great verbal skills.  They are problem solvers and best of all they can entertain themselves.  The article below from Edutopia is a great resource and gives us all something to think about where screen time is concerned.

Putting Kids on a "Screen Time Diet" | Edutopia

Let's Love All Children Lessons from Sandy Hook

As we celebrate Christmas and move into the new year let's hold all children in our hearts. Around the world, on street corners and yes in our schools we are losing children to gun violence. I grew up in a rural area and in a hunting culture. While my Dad was not much into hunting many of my relatives were and continue to be. We do not own guns or have any in our home. People do not need automatic weapons that fire hundreds of bullets in a minute to hunt or even to defend themselves. We will always have guns in our country. We need some common sense laws that protect people who are defenseless. I do not want armed guards standing at the door of the school I work at. I want all children to feel valued and safe. I want to live in a country where the rights of children are more important than the rights of the gun lobby. I want children to feel safe in their homes, their neighborhoods and their schools. Let's love all children the ones who daily have to go to sleep hearing gun fire in their neighborhoods and have been fearful of guns long before the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. During this time of national debate about guns and gun violence may the many voices agree on the need to protect children from gun violence so no parent has to grieve the loss of a child.