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Time Management

Dad working from home with toddler
I’m parenting 4 kids of different ages during the pandemic. How do I help my family balance media-use healthfully in lockdown?
 I’m parenting 4 kids of different ages during the pandemic. How do I help my family balance media-use healthfully in lockdown? 1024 462 Mediatrics

Q: My partner and I are parenting three children (ages 3.5, 6 and 10) while staying with my sister and her family, which includes a 19-year-old college student. We’re all in lockdown as my sister is high-risk for coronavirus. The adults are working from home, and some of the kids are remote learning. There are…

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Video Gaming PIMU
How do I know if my tween has “gaming disorder”?
 How do I know if my tween has “gaming disorder”? 750 315 Mediatrics

Es En Espanol Q: I recently read that the World Health Organization has added Gaming Disorder as a mental health diagnosis in the International Classification of Diseases and am concerned about my son’s gaming. As soon as he comes home from school, he games online with his internet friends until we have to force him to…

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Teenage boy using his cell phone while his mother looks at him with a worried expression
How can I help my teen focus and stop procrastinating with media?
 How can I help my teen focus and stop procrastinating with media? 750 315 Mediatrics

Q: My 17 year-old son spends 4-5 hours at a time on YouTube, clicking endlessly from one sports comedy show to another. He is doing okay in high school, but will binge-watch or follow links from site to site until the wee hours. I can’t get him to put the phone or laptop down. I…

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My 10-year-old grandson is playing M-rated video games and his parents don’t seem to mind–what can I do?
 My 10-year-old grandson is playing M-rated video games and his parents don’t seem to mind–what can I do? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My ten year old grandson is seemingly addicted to his Xbox and is allowed to play M-rated games. On weekend he spends hours on end playing. He becomes very defensive when you call him. His room has become his dungeon and his parents allow it, I guess to keep him out of their hair!…

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Should apps be part of a library’s story time?
 Should apps be part of a library’s story time? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: There is a discussion among children’s librarians about including tablets and apps in story times at the library for children ages 2-5 or even younger. The assumption is that apps can and should be one more type of material that supports early literacy development (vocabulary, narrative skills, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, etc.). Some think…

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What can I do to stop students from texting in class?
 What can I do to stop students from texting in class? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: I read an article you were cited in about college students texting during class and the negative impact it can have on their learning and overall academic performance. I am a high school teacher, and texting during class is one of the biggest challenges that I am facing. Unfortunately, I feel that I have…

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My 16-year-old son is addicted to Internet role-playing games–how can I help him?
 My 16-year-old son is addicted to Internet role-playing games–how can I help him? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: Over the past year, my 16-year-old son has become more and more addicted to Internet role playing sites. My son has ADHD and has always had a hyper focusing problem, but not on anything that would prevent him from his school work. He started out playing the games casually, but over time they have become…

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Is it okay for my toddler to watch the same Sesame Street movie over and over?
 Is it okay for my toddler to watch the same Sesame Street movie over and over? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: What is the consequence of watching the same Sesame Street movie over and over? It's Sesame Street and it's a movie, and it's only about 1 hour long. So it's not TV, it's not computer, it's not passive. We watch it together and we interact throughout it, with singing and dancing along. My daughter…

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If TV contributes to obesity, should I limit my kids’ screen time to video games and computers?
 If TV contributes to obesity, should I limit my kids’ screen time to video games and computers? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: I just saw that you published a study about childhood obesity and watching TV. From the article I read, it sounds like kids who watch TV and commercials for high-calorie foods are more likely to be obese—but that playing video games and using the computer aren’t a problem. Does this mean I should limit…

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Am I limiting my child’s chances of success in today’s economy by trying to limit his screen time?
 Am I limiting my child’s chances of success in today’s economy by trying to limit his screen time? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My 11-year-old son spends every free minute in front of his computer—doing homework (he really does, thank goodness), social networking, playing games, and now creating his own games. Concerned that, one by one, he has dropped sports, playing with friends, getting outdoors, and, frankly, spending time with the family, I have struggled (and been…

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