Would you allow your child to eat and eat and eat, whatever and whenever he wanted? Of course not. It’s not much different with a child’s media intake. Just like a parent implements portion and quality control with food, so must he implement the same controls with media. It is a child’s rightful job to try to get the very most of whatever he likes the most, be it candy, television, computer time. It takes many years for a child to develop the ability to see the big picture, thinking about … [Read more...] about Balancing Your Child’s Media Diet
Media
Watch Out for the Wild Things
Where the Wild Things Are, the beloved children's book by Maurice Sendak, has been made into a movie. When I first heard about it, I was excited...then worried. An article in this morning's Los Angeles Times about the movie fueled my worries. Granted, I haven't seen the movie, but I am still worried. I just know that hundreds of cool, thirty-something parents are going to line up to take their young children to see it. Is this really a movie for young children? In today's world, children … [Read more...] about Watch Out for the Wild Things
Cousin Sarah’s kids
The topic for my first blog on my new website had been on my mind when I paid a visit to my cousin Sarah and her boys, ages 5 and 7. After spending the afternoon with them, I knew I had found my topic. Sarah lives in a TV free house. (Okay, her husband, also a professor like Sarah, wrote a book about the effects of television viewing on children and how to make it work for your family.) But here's the thing of it, those little boys don't miss it, and they don't ask for it. What was more … [Read more...] about Cousin Sarah’s kids