Parents have many role, now that technology is a huge part of everyday life, one of those roles is to create a family media plan and then mentor their children on media best practices.
Families can set guidelines and work together to create a plan for how technology can be used in their homes.
David Schramm with USU Extension says this is made easily into an acronym (SAVVY) to remind parents about the important areas to discuss and create a plan based on the contracts and family media plan developed by Common Sense Media and the American Acadmy of Pediatrics.
Schramm says you can start by following this SAVVY media plan and answer the following questions:
S- Safety & Security - how will you, as a family, keep your information secure, keep your children safe from predators, and use media in a safe way?
• A- Apps & Allowable content - What type of content & apps will we allow for our family? This can be different for each individual based on age, but can also be a blanket statement (e.g. we choose not to watch movies rated R)
• V- Various Times - When will we use our devices? Are there specific times we choose to be screen free? Do we allow a certain amount of screen time for each child? Do we set device curfews or have a specific time each day where we don`t use devices?
• V - Various Locations - Where will we use our devices? Do we allow devices in bedrooms, at the dinner table, in the bathroom, at family gatherings?
• Y - Your Relationship - What things are we going to do in our screen-free time to enhance our relationship? In what ways can we use technology to enhance our relationships?
For more information, including a free Tech SAVVY handout and family guide Technoference, visit: relationships.usu.edu
