The Parent Perspective - May 2007

The Parent Perspective is a monthly feature where parents tell us how their families navigate today's media-saturated environment.

This month's Parent Perspective comes from Dee in Castle Rock, Colorado. Dee is the mother of Isabel (age 4) and Mary Kate (14 months):

As a mother of two young children, I am constantly trying to figure out ways to teach my children how to live in a media-saturated world. I feel that just limiting media time is not enough. I want to raise media literate children that are able to navigate media critically and to do this I have to take advantage of as many “teachable moments” as I can.

I keep the TV off most of the day, but because I work from the home there are inevitably times when Isabel will watch TV or a movie so I can get an hour of work in while Mary-Kate naps. This way her TV time is limited and is a “planned activity” and I don’t get pestered about it all day long. I avoid commercials by only allowing her to watch on-demand programming or movies, and I am typically in the same room working on my laptop so I can be there if questions or comments come up.

Sometimes in the evenings we watch the news together. I like to play a game where I point out political figures and Isabel tells me their names. I think it has gone a long way in expanding her vocabulary and her ability to talk about the world around her. Isabel now has Breyer horses named “Nancy Pelosi” and “Bob Gates”. I turn the news off as soon as stories come on that are beyond her ability to comprehend and rationalize, for example, natural disasters or shootings.

When I am cooking dinner I like to turn on the radio or put in a CD. Mary Kate dances and Isabel has become very good at picking out the different instruments she hears. My iPod™ has a folder just for “Izzy’s Tuneage” and I can put that in when we all need some quiet time. I think Raffi and Lauri Berkner are great choices because they sing songs that are catchy enough for me to sing along to.

Isabel now has her own hand-me-down laptop. Although she is still too young to understand how to navigate the Internet, we go to sites that she is interested in and just talk about the different things we see.

Being aware of all the good things the media has to offer is just as important as being a critical consumer. I hope to teach my children that the media isn’t something to be feared, but I want them to understand how and why it is created.

If you'd like to share your own experiences or suggestions in a Parent Perspective, email us at cmch@childrens.harvard.edu