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On average, the American child is in the company of his parent about 17 hours per week, with the media about 35 hours per week. Of the two, parent and media, which is more entertaining to the child, and which more critical to his social and emotional development?

When the Media is the Parent Our children are being nurtured and guided by machines — modern media delivery systems – and the media they deliver. They have taken over the parenting functions that once were performed by human beings.

This may sound like a horror movie plot from the 1950s, but it is a twenty-first century reality. All too often, well-meaning parents have abdicated their roles as nurturers, caregivers, teachers, confidantes, guides, and role models—leaving TV, videogames, movies, smart phones, and the internet to fill in. And our children are paying the price. Continue reading →

Relevant, Compelling Articles

Is there a clear link between media violence and bad behavior in kids?

Limit Kids’ Exposure to Media Violence, Docs Say. WebMD.com, July 18, 2016. An article that captures some of the controversy surrounding the issue of the impact of violent media on kids. Three experts are cited and quoted. One expert, Dr. Dmitri Christakis from Seattle, takes the side of grave concern
Trump’s rhetoric doesn’t just affect adults

A disturbing and thought-provoking article about how Candidate Trump, through his penetration into the lives and psyches of many Americans via the media, has turned up the dial on bullying in many schools around the country. Continue reading →
Not enough excercise

A must-read article about the dangers of too much screen time and the flip-side. Not enough time and energy being expended on actual physical activity had its dangers too. One of the major upshots of the article is that when kids are in front of screens too many hours a day, even though they have done little physical activity, they are often very, very tired. Continue reading →
More on managing screen time

A solid article that outlines six basic steps that concerned parents can take to safeguard their kids from the pernicious effects of the media. The sixth mentioned is setting limits on media involvement at bedtime and specifically in bed. Parents setting such limits is no small task, and, further, since many, many families in America have already enshrined screens in the bedrooms of their kids and for that matter in their own bedrooms, this major step would involve many parents needing to make a drastic change in their lifestyles. Continue reading →
Managing screen time is a real issue for modern parents

An article with six simple ways to impact positively on a family's involvement with the media. The ideas are simple but effective. They include parents playing video games and watching media with their children, putting down their own cell phones and electronics to be with their kids, setting limits on time spent with the media, and perhaps quite crucial to any sanity here, the parents getting TVs and electronics out of their children's bedrooms at bedtime. Continue reading →
Parents need to look at their media habits

A short and sad article written by a woman who is a self-proclaimed "screen addict" and who realizes how detrimental this addiction is to her parenting of her kids. She realizes that one of the most serious indications of her addiction is her children often complaining that she spends more time looking at the screen than relating to them. Continue reading →
Stemming the rising tide of obesity

A recent article in a Canadian paper about the rising tide of obesity in Canada. The numbers match ours. Though certain states in the US are lower than others, for instance Colorado versus Alabama, the fact that obesity has been on the rise since the 1980s in both countries is reason for much alarm. After all, with rising obesity comes much co-morbidity including more heart disease, strokes, and diabetes along with more school and work absenteeism. Continue reading →