Recently I have been blogging on technology and kids. Previously I have addressed children up to the start of school. Today we focus on children in early elementary years.
A quick overview of the issues for children of all ages goes like this:
- Know what your child is doing on line
- Set appropriate limit for total amount of screen time per day.
- Select age appropriate TV shows, movies, computer programs, video games, internet sites….
- Make sure there is time for play, social interaction and reading each day.
The specific concerns for children in early elementary school regarding TV are violence, news and commercials. Now is the time to start using your V-Chip (go to http://tvguidelines.org/ for more information). It is easy to limit what children can view on your TV; equally important is to talk with your child about what they are watching. Help them understand what is real and what is not real on TV. Help them understand the purposes of commercials. You can record favorite shows and fast forward through the commercials to avoid them all together.
Many children this age find the news to be frightening. If you believe watching the news is appropriate for your child sit and watch with them, talk about how they respond to what they see on TV News.
Make sure the video games your child has access to are age appropriate. Violent video games and watching violence on TV can increase aggressiveness and negatively affect school performance.
Next time I’ll talk about computers and the internet for early elementary age children.
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