I’m parenting 4 kids of different ages during the pandemic. How do I help my family balance media-use healthfully in lockdown?

How do I know if my tween has “gaming disorder”?

July 17, 2018

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 […]

How can I help my teen focus and stop procrastinating with media?

November 21, 2017

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 […]

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

July 23, 2013

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 […]

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

June 28, 2013

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 […]

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

May 10, 2013

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 […]