Showing posts with label Apple Screen Time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple Screen Time. Show all posts

Monday, October 26, 2020

Back by Popular Demand: LIKE Documentary + Expert Panel


Back by popular demand, Minnetonka is hosting a fourth (virtual online) screening of the compelling documentary LIKE followed by a discussion panel on Thursday, November 12, from 7-8:30 pm.

Last year, more than 800 K-12 parents and all Minnetonka students in grades 6-12 saw this powerful film about the very real effects social media can have on our lives. Watching/re-watching this film together will help continue conversations. Even parents of elementary students found the film incredibly valuable to see as they set up guidelines for their children around the use of personal technology tools. LIKE captures interviews with students, parents, psychologists, doctors and experts from a wide-range of fields and perspectives.  

This time, we are adding a panel discussion with experts featured in the film who will share ideas and resources to help parents and students work toward a healthy relationship with social media, personal technology, and entertainment screen time. Panelists include:
  • Max Stossel, Head of Education & Content at Center for Humane Technology

  • Dr. Jerry Bubrick, Senior Psychologist at Child Mind Institute

  • Scilla Andreen, CEO and Co-Founder of IndieFlix 

  • Dave Eisenmann, Director of Instructional Technology for Minnetonka Schools

RSVP on our District Digital Health & Wellness website to reserve a spot for the free screening or to receive access to a recording of the event for 48 hours afterwards. On the webpage, you may also view trailers of the film, watch a 20 minute talk I gave about managing screen time and setting technology guidelines, and view numerous tips and resources around iPads and more.

Thank you for your help discussing these topics with your students and family!

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        Monday, May 18, 2020

        Excellent Pandemic Parent Digital Well-Being Guidelines from The Center for Humane Technology

        Recently Max Stossel, Head of Education for the Center for Humane Technology, worked with child health experts to create some great digital well-being guidelines for parents during the COVID pandemic. I have a picture of the main guidelines below, but be sure to visit their site so you can expand each guideline and learn more. These guidelines nicely point out the importance of understanding the how and why behind technology tools and apps: how they work to grab our attention, sway our opinions, alter our emotions and affect our relationships. There’s no time better than now with extra space on our schedules to make time to discuss the role of technology in our lives and become more cognizant of our use—“Techcognition” as I've called it.
         
        Source
        Use some of your extra pandemic free time to discuss these important topics with your kids! 

         Note: Max was the narrator of the "Like" Documentary About the Impact of Social Media we showed to all Minnetonka 6-12 grade students and parents this year. If you haven't seen the LIKE documentary, consider watching Max Stossel's 45 minute recorded student assembly and/or 60 minute parent presentation here. It's almost the identical content, just not professionally produced like the documentary which included interviews and graphics, etc.

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        Wednesday, May 13, 2020

        Make the Most of Extra Pandemic Screen Time: Keep Entertainment In Check!

        Our family has an enormous amount of free time due to canceled activities  during the COVID-19 pandemic. My wife and I are no longer like passing ships shuttling kids between sports practices, music concerts, school events, church activities and more. Even though we are missing friends and activities, we have found the extra time to be a gift, enjoying relaxed, less stressful evenings and weekends together. We especially cherish the extra time with our college daughter who is once again at the dinner table. We all spend more time on walks, playing games, doing puzzles, completing house projects, reading and of course, time with entertainment technology, social media and reading the latest news.

        Despite all the extra time we still work to keep a healthy balance with our use of entertainment technology. We limit the amount of shows and movies we watch, the amount of time playing video games and time consuming social media and news. We have increased the amount of entertainment screen time per day by an hour--from about 90 minutes per weekday to around two and a half hours--but still have “guardrails” in place.         We continue to use Apple Screen Time Restrictions to limit the time spent on non-educational technology. Rather than have unlimited access, our kids have an hour for non-violent video games like Minecraft and an hour for Netflix. Our high school kids also have 30 minutes a day for social media. We also consider the content on the screen--whether or not it is engaging vs. mindless entertainment--and make exceptions to our guidelines as necessary.

        Perhaps you haven’t set up any guardrails and much of your free time while sheltering in place is consumed by entertainment technology, social media & news. It’s not too late to make some changes! Years from now when things are back to “normal” (and you have a fully booked calendar), it would be great to think back to this time as something that brought your family closer together, rather than something that was simply endured. Make the most of it now!

        You may also want to check this article         on Screen Time in the Age of Coronavirus from another one of my favorite resources, Common Sense Media.

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        Monday, January 27, 2020

        Social Media & Parenting Panel Discussion in Minnetonka March 12



        As a follow up to our three parent screenings in Minnetonka of the powerful LIKE documentary this year, we are offering a panel discussion about the film and the impact of social media on our lives. On the evening of March 12, Minnetonka parents can engage in small group discussions with others about ways to support healthy technology use, include kids in the conversation and successfully implement changes. Panelists will share tips and ideas to help and answer questions. Panelists include Mathew Meyers, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Cindy Andress, Minnewashta Elementary Principal, Paula Hoff, Minnetonka Middle School West Principal, and Jeff Erickson, Minnetonka High School Principal. I'll moderate the panel. Parents can RSVP on our District Digital Health & Wellness page.

        One of many screenings of LIKE in Minnetonka.
        Minnetonka students in grades 6-12 saw this documentary during school this year; grades 7, 8 and 10 viewed it in November, and grades 6, 9, 11 and 12 view it in February. The hope is that seeing the film will help spark informed conversations about social media use and help guide everyone toward a healthy relationship with social media, personal technology, and entertainment screen time. Here is the handout that accompanied the film, Tips for Managing Social Media Use, as well as numerous tips and resources below. 

        If you haven't seen the LIKE documentary, consider watching Max Stossel's 45 minute recorded student assembly and/or 60 minute parent presentation here. He's the star/narrator of the LIKE film and the Head of Education for the Center for Humane Technology. It's almost the identical content, just not professionally produced like the documentary which included interviews and graphics, etc.
        Thanks for your help discussing these topics with your students and family!
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        Thursday, September 26, 2019

        Minnetonka Screening "Like" Documentary About the Impact of Social Media


        In our continued efforts to help our children (and ourselves) practice a healthy balance with our use of technology, Minnetonka Schools will be hosting a parent screening of a new documentary about the impact of social media on our lives called Like on November 13, January 27 and 31. (If you're in the area you can RSVP here and claim a free ticket). All students in grades 6-12 will also see the film this year as part of their health curriculum. 


        I first learned about the film early this summer and previewed it with one of our principals. Then I pulled together a group of about 30 others         to see it (principals, health teachers, counselors, media specialists, administrators and others). They confirmed its value and we discussed how to have our students and parents see it. Our health teachers liked the direct ties into their curriculum on relationships and the role of technology in our lives. Guidance counselors and administrators liked its messages about the impact of social media. Everyone agreed that it could be a helpful way to further educate both our students and their families and promote a healthier relationship with personal technology. 

        Pros
        Overall the film is really well done. It has a nice balance of interviews with students as well as experts. The film relays information about the purposeful design of social media apps to get us to use them more, a message that the Center for Humane Technology is working to inform the greater public about. This is an organization that I have been following and written about previously. The film includes interviews with Max Stossel, Head of Education & Content. It ends with an updated version of the Panda is Dancing short clip that Max stars in from a few years ago. The film also interviews the co-founder of the "Like" button on Facebook, Leah Pearlman, and discusses the effects of this numeric value on our interactions.

        The film does a great job of educating the viewer on these important topics. The film not only addresses some negative effects of social media and phone use but also highlights positives, as well as suggests steps to take to regain a balanced and more healthy use. This is something other films I've seen haven't done and therefore we've avoided showing our community because they basically were too fear mongering and would not help bring change.


        Post screening surveys were very positive about the film. As shown in the chart, 100% of parents agreed that the film was informative and worth seeing. Parents also listed many things they had learned from the film that they plan to implement.
         
        Cons
        Unfortunately one part of the film that is not helpful is a short, misleading 3 minute section on "Technology in the Classroom." They interview the principal of a middle school that is going phone free with expensive magnetic locking cell phone pouches for kids to carry around. They quote the often cited myth that Silicon Valley executives send their kids to tech free schools--including Steve Jobs--whose children were in school prior to the iPhone and iPads. Yes, a small percentage do, but relative to the thousands of executives in SV it's a very small number. Be sure to read Carl Hooker's blog post related to this about Technology Fear Therapy for Parents and Schools. At least at the end of these three minutes they acknowledge that creativity and intuition can happen "in conjunction with machines." When I spoke with Scilla Andreen, the CEO and Co-Founder of IndieFlix, I encouraged her to cut this section out. Any screening of LIKE should point out these misleading blanket statements and myths. 

        More info
        During the screening, I paused the film three times and gave the attendees a few minutes for discussion with others around them on some questions I posted on the screen. At the end I also shared a number of tips and ideas from my own family to work toward a healthy relationship with social media, personal technology, and entertainment screen time. You can watch a nearly identical recording of that presentation here: My 20 Minute Ed Talk: Screen Time & Student Well-being

         As a follow up to our screenings of LIKE, we are holding a Social Media & Parenting Panel Discussion in Minnetonka on March 12.

         In addition to the trailer linked above, here are two other for the film bit.ly/LikeTrailer2 and bit.ly/LikeTrailer3. To learn about the Like documentary, visit thelikemovie.com.

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        Monday, June 3, 2019

        Google's Family Link Parental Controls: Improving But Still Limited


        Last fall when Apple released Screen Time, Google had a similar service called Family Link but it only worked on Google Pixel phones. Now it is available for a wide variety of Android devices. Parents of children with Android phones and other devices like personal tablets and personal Chromebooks can now set up Family Link to help guide their child's use of technology, monitor time spent in apps, set limits and more. I don't have an Android device so I can't write about my own experience with it. Go directly to Google's site to learn more and obtain directions. I found this article helpful. 

        Some things to note: it only seems to work for users under age 13--after that kids can opt out of parental supervision. That may be problematic for some families. It also appears that your child needs a new Google account to set this up- it won't work with  an existing Google account or school/parent's work Google account. It also only allows YouTube Kids, which older users will likely find too limiting. Perhaps kids could still use a web browser to get to YouTube. These limitations make me hesitant to see this as a great solution for many families- it's a good start, but still limited and doesn't provide parents with the full functionality they need compared to Apple's Screen Time.


        Recently Google expanded their Digital Wellbeing resource website. It has helpful tips nicely laid out about how to use technology in a healthy and balanced way. They include tips like limiting notifications, setting daily limits for apps and screen time, tips to unplug and more. They added some video interviews of people reflecting upon their use of tech. All of this is a great step in the right direction to help us use our technology. They state on their commitment page: "Great technology should improve life, not distract from it." I hope Google continues to improve their work in this are to make their services even more healthy, give parents more options, and improve the wellbeing of people using their products. 

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