I recently met Dr. Delaney Ruston, a Stanford trained physician and the creator of several documentaries including her most recent work, Screenagers, which highlights the struggles families are having over gaming, social media, and the use of screens for learning and play. The goal of the film is to provide solutions for families on how to navigate screen time in healthy ways.

During Dr. Ruston’s small group discussion and visit with the broader USM parent community, she offered simple, straightforward tips for families.  One suggestion she offered to help parents initiate and have an effective discussion about healthy screen time includes using the three V’s or VALUE, VALIDATE, and VILLAGE. By this she means that when parents have conversations with their children it is wise to acknowledge the VALUE of various screen activities including gaming and social media instead of automatically arguing with children that they are not good for them or have little value. Approaching the discussion by stating the value of something on a screen avoids creating a dualistic, right, wrong situation that can leave everyone frustrated with little to no positive outcomes. Acknowledging the value of screen time first, creates the opportunity to VALIDATE children’s desire to be connected using technology while at the same time offering the opportunity to begin a conversation regarding healthy ways to have screen time so that it doesn’t become a negative or destructive environment. By working with children to create healthy expectations around screen time at home and school a constructive VILLAGE culture is created. There is strength in numbers. The village recognizes the value of children’s  screen time and strives to create quality computer activities for them to engage in as creators instead of consumers and maintains recommended guidelines.

To help parents and schools accomplish a community centered on healthy screen time, Dr. Ruston referenced the Wait Until Eighth movement suggesting that parents wait until eighth grade to give their children smart phones. The website sites nine reasons why parents should adopt this philosophy and suggests that parents sign the pledge promising not to give children phones until eighth grade. When 10 families in a grade at your child’s school have signed the pledge the site informs you so that the 10 families can support one another.

Lastly, Dr. Ruston shared applications that you can help you monitor your child’s screen time. They provide simple monitoring and management tools to achieve effective screen time for children taking the guess work and arguments out of how much screen time is actually taking place. There are resources available to help set screen time expectations, guide conversations, and manage screen time. It is ultimately the parents’ decision on screen time at home, and they can rest assured the school is doing everything possible to ensure that screen time on campus is vital to the learning process.