👩‍💻 Media balance is a major concern for all. Have you asked yourself how you felt after a long day of media consumption? Do you recognize your digital well being?

☑️ I urge you to think about a media balance that you can create for you and hopefully with your family! Help yourself think through the different emotional reactions you go through while consuming digital content.

⚖️ You decide what is a healthy media balance for you? And help your family members decide for themselves.

❌ Don’t use the “addiction” term with your teens, but rather help them question how they feel when using a specific app or game.

👀 Help them recognize the impact of their online interactions as positive or negative... Quality or Productive?

👀 Help them recognize patterns in their behavior or feelings through questions not comments.

💬 💬 ❓ Let me know what questions or comments you have about the tips or strategies shared in this post.

✅ ❓ Do you have a media balance in your life?

✅ ❓ How is your digital wellbeing?

How do you build and establish a Healthy Media and Tech Relationship within your family? As the new school year rolls in we ought to reconsider our media and tech relationships. The experts from Common Sense Media have suggested MEALS for you. We all know that our kids build habits based on our own behaviors. It is important to be the role MODEL and take the lead on creating healthy media and tech relationships. We should set an example for what, how and when we consume media. We should also help our kids differentiate when we use Media and tech for work and when it is used for entertainment and info gathering.

ENGAGE: Creating a space and time for open conversations about media content and how we should respond to appropriate vs inappropriate content is crucial for the family digital well being. I follow many blogs and twitter accounts to keep up with trends and concerns with media consumption and as a family we choose a topic to discuss and lay out our family values and boundaries surrounding those issues. We use the following guiding questions: “what do you think of…?” “How do you think we should address….?” “Why do you think …..is …. creating an issue for…?” Things we can do as a family or individuals when X issue arises.

ADJUSTING your family plan and usage for the situation is also very important. During school days the kids will be using their devices way more often than they do during their off/vacations days. Be flexible, understanding and reasonable while safely monitoring.

LIMIT: Filters and safety settings are the most powerful features every parent needs to master. Don’t leave it to chance. Take the time to set the appropriate filters on your child’s browsers and set the proper settings for each account. YES each account will have their own settings that you need to understand and explain why some features are important for the safety and security of your young ones.

SUPPORT: As you engage in conversations about internet safety, digital footprints, and ethical use of media and tech, make sure you set a system for support. “What do we do in the case of…?” “Who do we inform in the case of …?”

Create scenarios and problem solving strategies for resolving issues around inappropriate use, exposure and or uncomfortable encounters. Make sure to address cyberbullying and its effects on our well-beings. Encourage your kids to become upstanders instead of bystanders when witnessing cyberbullying or any inappropriate media use.

Make sure you are supportive and not judgmental, offer solutions instead of throwing blame and be a coach instead of an authority figure when you can.

Which of these techniques do you implement with your own family media and relationships? Do you have an established system of expectations?