Screentime & Game Time: Positive Strategies for Kids and Parents

Screen Time

APA Recommendations  Media is just another environment  Virtual life is real life  Parenting has not changed  Set rules  Role modeling is critical  We learn from each other  Talk time is critical  The quality of content matters

APA Recommendations  Curation helps  Be skeptical of labels  Co-engagement counts  Play time is important  Set limits  Create tech-free zones  Kids will be kids  Don’t panic. Mistakes will be made

Media Consumption Plan  Consider all devices  Start with conversations  Write down rules  Hours/Day, Hours/Week  Off hours and locations  Dinner  Bedroom  Good conduct  No bullying, ask for help

Play Diet Breakdown

Special Needs and Learning Differences  Transitions can be difficult  Special rules may be needed  Consult LearningWorksForKids.com

Social Media

The Basics  To digital natives virtual is real  Grade school kids can use closed environments as social media, but you should still supervise  Middle school kids will want to use other sites, but it’s against COPPA rules and most sites’ TOS

Age Minimums  Age 13  Twitter  Facebook  Instagram  Pinterest  Google+  Tumblr  Reddit  Snapchat  Secret  Age 14  LinkedIn  Age 16  WhatsApp  Age 17  Vine  Tinder  Age 18  Path  Age 18 or 13 with parent’s permission  YouTube  WeChat

Video Games

Tips  Consider Parental Controls  Consider private servers  Minecraft  Consider closed environments  Club Penguin  Animal Jam  Wizard 101  Talk, listen and supervise!

The ESRB Ratings

Pixelkin’s Game Database

Let’s Plays and Other Resources  Let’s Plays can be great, but watch out for language or violence  Stampy  YouTube Kids  Sites with information  ESRB  Pixelkin  Learning Works for Kids  Common Sense Media

Educational Games

Kindergarten and Up

3 rd Grade and Up

6 th Grade and Up

9 th Grade and Up

Concerns about Video Games

Video Game Addiction  “Pathological” Gaming  Rare  Cause or Symptom?

Video Game Violence and Sexual Content  Violence and sexual content is a spectrum  Considerations:  Cartoony/Realistic  Extent/Amount  Type (shooting, kissing)  Don’t forget online interactions  Especially audio

Games for Good

Benefits of Video Games  Teamwork and communication  Hand-eye coordination  Memory  Learning  Fitness  Parent-child connection

Where Games Are Going  Augmented Reality  Virtual Reality  Motion-based games  Smart toys

Pixelkin.org Also Gaming With the Moms podcast on Blogtalkradio, iTunes Thank You!