The Bendigo Library will hold a workshop about parenting in the digital age and how to manage children’s exposure to “screen time”.
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Doomsday Tuna founder Stef Cola said digital devices had become integrated within schools as well as our everyday activities.
“The whole idea of the workshop is to give parents and carers some tools and tips on making screen time and the internet easy to control for their children,” Ms Cola said.
“In the workshop we try and break it down, to not classify screen time as either good or bad, we break it down into a range of perspectives.”
“Screen time can be educational or recreational as well as being creative or passive, there are definitely good things and bad things that are associated with screens.”
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The workshop will help parents and carers with children aged 3-16-years-old identify what types of devices they want to allow to be used within their household and gain the tools to plan digital boundaries.
“It’s important that parents are able to educate their children on how to use devices and how to be a good digital citizen,” Ms Cola said.
“The workshop will cover and create a family media plan, outlining the rules and the boundaries.”
“By seeing how your family is using the internet you can really understand where the dangers are as well as where you can take advantage and make some changes.”
According to the Department of Health, excessive unsupervised use of screens from birth to five years of age can lead to language delays, reduced attention span, lower levels of school readiness and poor decision making.
“Unsupervised excessive use of screens can have detrimental effects on the development of children,” Ms Cola said.
“It’s more about moving away from unsupervised extended use of screen time and being active participants by putting boundaries in place,” Ms Cola said.
For more information on creating a media plan for your family please visit https://doomsdaytuna.com/blog/your-family-media-plan/.
The workshop will be held at the Bendigo Library on February 20 and if you wish to attend you can register online at https://goldfieldslibraries.com/event-list/40770486623/.
