How can you start a dialogue about balance of screen time with other activities during the holiday? Talking about screen time goals and setting expectations of balance for children’s online activities with their offline activities centers wellness over conflict. Transmitting this to families may be a first step toward an awareness that can only help children as they navigate their online and offlice worlds.

How do kids spend their screen time?

Asking your classroom students how much time they expect to spend online during the holiday may also give teachers an important snapshot of screen time numbers, what media, games and types of online social interactions children engage in as they develop and take advantage of more “freetime”. Having conversations about the use and misuse of social media, and social gaming with families supports knowledge around safety, balance, and the repercussions of poorly supervised online time. At THENCE we offer a professional development classroom to cohort mentorships, professional development, and parent-friendly workshops that help jumpstart this conversation. We cover the latest research about the affects of unsupervised screentime, and data about how children are spending their screen time, using technology as well as specific pitfalls of anxiety around social media, location sharing and other mental health hazards. We take care to respect the fact that every family, educator and child hold a variety of ideas and views about time spent online as well as behavioral standards. These mentorships, trainings, and parent workshops are available with our subscriptions starting at the “THENCE Planner” level.