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 The organization also says parents should oversee children's media
consumption and educate them about proper media engagement.
"The big picture message is that parents have a huge role to play as
guides and mentors for their young children about what technology
means," said Dr. Jenny Radesky, who led the crafting of the new
guidelines for young children.
For example, she said, what are people supposed to do with tech gear
and devices? How should those gears and devices be used to improve
people's lives, and help them learn and build relationships?
"In order for kids to grow up with a healthy concept of what digital
tools are and how to use them effectively, creatively, and kindly,
we need to teach them this – both explicitly (in what we teach them)
and implicitly (through role modeling our own behavior) from the
very start," said Radesky, of the University of Michigan C.S. Mott
Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor.
The new recommendations call for infants to avoid media - except for
video-chatting - when they are younger than 18 to 24 months. After
those ages, they may be exposed to it, but the content should be
high-quality. Also, young children shouldn't be left alone when
they're engaging with digital media or television.
There is no evidence that media use benefits infants, but there is
evidence that it is linked with poor sleep, obesity risk and poor
developmental outcomes, said Radesky in an email to Reuters Health.
As for choosing high-quality media, she said parents should trust
their instincts and pay attention to how their children respond to
programs and apps. Also, she recommends Common Sense Media (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/)
as a guide for how to use technology among families and Sesame
Workshop (www.sesameworkshop.org/) for content.
For preschool-aged children, the guidelines recommend limiting
screen use to one hour per day of high-quality programming.
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The guidelines are a bit looser for older children and teens, but
the organization says media shouldn't take the place of other needs
like sleep and physical activity. Also, the recommendations call for
parents to select and co-view media with their children. They should
also teach their children about online safety.
"Parents are back in the driver's seat," said Dr. Megan Moreno, who
led the crafting of the new media guidelines for school-aged
children. "We want parents to feel that they are media role models.
They can make decisions for their kids and help them recognize the
risks and benefits of media use."
The American Academy of Pediatrics has a new tool to help families
develop and follow a Family Media Use plan (www.healthychildren.org/mediauseplan).
The plan should decide the type and quantity of media children
consume, with a focus on healthy habits and communication of
guidelines to other caregivers like babysitters.
"The hope is that media selection becomes much more mindful and
families are talking about the quantity and quality of the media
that they use," said Moreno, of Seattle Children's.
The new statements were published in the journal Pediatrics to
coincide with the annual American Academy of Pediatrics conference
in San Francisco.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2enRkCN, http://bit.ly/2enQ6r8 and http://bit.ly/2enRuKp
Pediatrics, online October 21, 2016.
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