How to Make a Family Media Use Plan

05.04.2023

In today’s digital age, media is an integral part of our daily lives, and it can be challenging for families to navigate the potential risks and benefits of media use. That’s why it’s important for families to create a media plan, which is a set of guidelines and rules that outline how and when each family member can use media devices and platforms.

Here are some reasons why a family should create a media plan:

Promotes healthy media use

A media plan can help families develop healthy habits around media use, including limits on screen time and encouraging positive activities that don’t involve media, such as exercise or outdoor play.

Helps to prevent overuse

A media plan can help to prevent overuse of media devices, which can have negative impacts on mental and physical health, including sleep deprivation and social isolation.

Increases family communication

A media plan can encourage families to communicate more effectively about their media use and to work together to establish a plan that works for everyone.

Protects children from inappropriate content

A media plan can help parents protect their children from inappropriate or harmful content, including violence, pornography, and cyberbullying.

Establishes rules and expectations

A media plan can establish clear rules and expectations for media use, including when and where devices can be used, what types of content are allowed, and consequences for breaking the rules.

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers some tips that you can use when creating a plan [1]:

It is advisable to prevent children from having screens in their bedrooms and establish a “media curfew” during mealtime and bedtime, where devices are either put away or charged in a designated station for the night.
Using media excessively has been linked to various negative effects such as obesity, lack of sleep, school difficulties, aggression, and other behavioral issues. It is recommended to restrict entertainment screen time to one or two hours per day to prevent these negative consequences.
For kids who are younger than 2 years old, it’s suggested to replace screen time with unstructured play and social interaction with people. This is because the chance to engage in creative thinking, problem-solving, and developing reasoning and motor skills is more beneficial for their developing brain than simply consuming media passively.
Engage actively in your children’s media education by watching programs with them and having conversations about values.
When selecting media options, search for educational programs or those that teach positive values, including empathy and tolerance for diverse ethnicities and races. Opt for programming that displays good interpersonal skills, which your children can imitate.
It is important to firmly prohibit watching content that is not suitable for the child’s age, such as movies or TV shows featuring sex, drugs, and violence. Movie and TV ratings are in place for a reason, and parents can also use online movie reviews to assist them in enforcing these guidelines.
The internet offers a vast array of learning opportunities, but it is also a place where children may encounter problems. It is advised to keep the computer in a communal area of the home, allowing parents to monitor their children’s online activity and track the duration of their usage.
It’s recommended to get to know commonly used social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You could even consider creating your own account on the same social media platforms as your children, allowing you to keep track of their online activity by adding them as friends. Pre-teens should not have social media accounts, and younger children may benefit from utilizing age-appropriate websites designed specifically for their age group.

For more tips, see the link at the end of this article. You can also find a handy online calculator for creating your own media plan on healthychildren.org [2].

The world is evolving, so it’s no surprise that today’s children are spending more and more time in front of digital screens. Instead of restricting your child, help them get the most out of their time spent consuming entertainment content. Pastory allows parents to influence children’s YouTube and Tiktok feeds by enriching it with educational content based on parental preferences and kids’ personal qualities.

Overall, creating a media plan can help families establish healthy habits around media use, improve communication, and protect children from potential harms. By setting clear guidelines and expectations, families can make media use a positive and productive part of their lives.