14 Questions to Discuss With Your Children About Media
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With summer comes more flexibility in how our family spends time; is that how it works at your house also?
I truly believe that one of the reasons our kids want to spend a lot of time on media, whether it’s an ipod, DS, Wii, DVD player, TV, whatever…is because the time passes quickly when you’re in the “media zone.” Our family is blessed to have outdoor kids who love to play outside in the sandbox, jump on the trampoline, swim, ride bikes, etc. But my mama’s heart knows that it is easy to fill our indoor time with media if we don’t purposely choose otherwise. While we have reading plans and a “loose” summer schedule, I thought it would be a great thing to be purposeful about formulating questions to discuss with my children about media. Therefore, we have 14 questions to discuss with your children about media.
One of the greatest ways to encourage quality and quantity media time is to let your children give their honest opinions on the topics of technology and social media. By asking questions, you can guide the conversation to wise choices and the reasons we have family media rules.
So here’s the list of questions I formulated for discussion with my kiddos to encourage a media happy and healthy home. I think you’ll find it beneficial for your family also. My suggestion is to choose one for dinner for the next two weeks and enjoy the open discussions with your kiddos about cyberspace. Parents and children alike will find the discovery a wonderful learning experience- we sure did!
1. What age do you think is appropriate to have a Facebook account?
2. Is it ever ok to talk to strangers on the internet?
3. How old do you think you should be before having your own cell phone?
4. What is your favorite website of all the ones we’ve approved?
5. How much time during your awake hours do you think is appropriate to spend online or using technology tools?
6. How do you feel about using a media time schedule?
7. Is setting the timer a good idea when it comes to media usage?
8. Do you like the idea of earning media time as a reward for fulfilling your responsibilities?
9. Do you believe every advertisement you see is true? Why or why not?
10. What happens to photos that are posted on social media websites, whether Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram?
11. How important is it to represent yourself, your family, and your God on the internet?
12. How much time should you use to think about what you are writing in cyberspace?
13. Is texting and driving a smart thing to do?
14. Does it bother you if you are talking to someone and they start texting on their phones or digital devices?
I truly believe the most important part of being a parent in the digital world is to be proactive in digital parenting.
What questions would you add to the above in order to open up media conversations with your children?
Great questions! Love your question about advertisements. We’re really struggling with discernment with tv. We don’t watch much but when it is on, eyes are glued, everything else is tuned out and so much that they see is perceived as reality and makes a HUGE impression on them. We’re hitting the pre-teen years so I could really use some guidance here. Do you have any other probing questions for this area? Thanks!!
Start with an opener: What is the funniest commercial you’ve seen? Do you believe what the commercial says is true? Why or why not? Our family is notorious (well, my hubby :)) for making fun of short infomercials. He typically will say at the end of the commercial “And every problem in life you have will be solved if you just pay $9.95…” 😉
Great questions, Rachel. I like how proactive you are–it makes up for my lack in the area; I can still your ideas! 🙂
You are so funny! Thanks Friend- appreciate you so much!