Between “Slender Man” and shootings, yes another one today on a campus in Seattle, the news this week has made a lot of parents wonder about what their children, teens and young adults are watching, listening to, and engaging in online. It is important to understand what is influencing your child. Here are some things you need to do:
- Parents should find out what media engage their teenagers. This mean knowing how often your teenager watches television, listens to radio, and surfs the Internet, as well as knowing what music and music videos he/she listens to and watches. This task of educating yourself about your teen’s media exposure is extremely important. It may involve watching television shows you know your teen habitually watches (with or without your teen); and listening to music, radio shows, and so on that that personally you may not find palatable but your teen does. You can’t understand the impact of media if you don’t know what in it attracts and absorbs your teen.
- Set rules in your home about the media. Reasonable limits should be set and adhered to.
- Encourage your teen to get involved in athletics, the arts, or other activities. Teenagers should not be allowed to become passive recipients of an overload of media.
- Talk with your teen about what he/she is watching and listening to. Try to get a sense of why it absorbs him/her. This is especially important in the areas of sex and violence. Let your teen know that these are important issues and that they shouldn’t be dealt with superficially.
- Parents should find out what is constructive in media and encourage teens to take part in it. There are many programs, talk shows, and even musical experiences that can be quite thrilling, uplifting, fun, and educational. Much worthwhile culture can be gleaned and enjoyed through the media.
- Stay around your teen when he/she watches TV or videos or surfs the Internet. The simple presence of a parent is often enough to remind the teen of limits you have agreed to about what and how much media to consume.
- Help the school system your teenager attends develop educational programs about exposure to media.
- Become as familiar as possible with cultural and sub-cultural trends to which the media exposes your teen. This is not meant to imply that you should pretend to be as “cool” as your teen, but simply be knowledgeable about what’s going on. Again, you can’t help your teen deal with media influence if you don’t know what the influence is.
DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical or psychiatric advice for individual conditions or treatment and does not substitute for a medical or psychiatric examination. A psychiatrist must make a determination about any treatment or prescription. Dr. Paul does not assume any responsibility or risk for the use of any information contained within this blog.