Does Your Family Have a Screen Time Safety Contract?

This guest blog post was written by The Parents Television and Media Council®, a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment. Founded in 1995, this national grassroots organization has more than 1.4 million members, and works with television producers, broadcasters, networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and negative messages targeted to children.

Another school year will soon be underway! Many children will be coming home in the weeks ahead with school-issued computers or tablets. Now is the time to lay down some ground rules and set clear expectations and boundaries around their use of digital technology.

Whatever the benefits of giving children digital tools to help them in school, we know there are risks, too.

According to one recent Pew Research Center survey, a majority of parents in the United States (66%) say that parenting is harder today than it was 20 years ago. Many cite technology as a reason why.
Extensive research has shown a correlation between excessive screen time and various mental health issues such as increased anxiety, depression, poor sleep patterns, reduced cognitive development and disordered eating.

To help you, we’ve developed a “Screen Time Safety and Cyber Kindness Contract” that you can print out, review together and sign. It is our sincere hope that this will be a help to you in establishing and enforcing household rules about technology.

Try to schedule device-free time together every week and commit to it. Make sure there are no devices at family meal times. Every Thursday could be family game night. Every Friday could be family movie night. UPTV and UP Faith & Family both offer great family-friendly viewing options – including many titles that have earned the PTC’s Seal of Approval – for stress-free, quality family viewing.

It can be daunting to try to limit your child’s time on screens and devices. Especially with so many social forces, including the schools themselves, working against you! But it’s worth the effort!

Together, let us work towards a brighter future for our children—one where they can flourish physically, mentally, and emotionally, both on and off the screen.