Your Family Media Plan

We have partnered with the Goldfields Library Corporation to bring you the Raising your Child in the Digital World workshop series.

Navigating the worlds of screen time and the internet can be pretty tricky when it comes to your kids. During these workshops we explore parenting in the digital age, leaving you with some great tools to plan your family's digital boundaries.

Family Media Plan

The main outcome of the 'Raising your Child in the Digital World' Workshop is a written Family Media Plan.

This worksheet will walk you through creating your very own Family Media Plan and help you on your way to being more intentional in your family's digital use.

How To Use this Worksheet

Fill out each section in the worksheet with your family in mind. It is important to remember that every family is unique as are their digital needs.

Screen-Free Zones & Times

Having screen-free zones in your house and times in your schedule is important. This incorporates physical & scheduled boundaries for where screens are allowed. Specific times such as dinnertime & before bedtime are important breaks from screens. It helps to make these boundaries as part of the daily routine.

Examples:

• Kitchen or Dining Room Table
• Bedroom
• Stroller
• Car
• 1 Hour before bed
• Mealtimes
• Family Time

Device Curfews

When will your devices be turned off for the night? This can be different for each family member.

Things to consider:

• Where will the devices charge overnight?
• When do devices get charged?
• How devices impact on our sleep patterns (minimising blue light, alerts during the night, airplane mode etc.).

Media Types & Choices

We now know that screen time can be consumption or creation based. It can also be recreational or educational.

Understanding the differences between these media types will allow you to define the media types and choices for each family member. Media and devices can promote interaction, connection & creativity.

It is best to diversify your media consumption.

Recreational screen time examples:

• Co-viewing with a parent or adult. Promoting interaction & discussion through consumption of media.
• Co-playing with a parent or adult. Promotion creativity & connection through creation based media.
• Watching educational shows.
• Use media to connect with others (e.g. Skype or video chat).
• Avoid background media - can cause distractions, limits to attention span & connection with adults.

Offline Time

The Family Media Plan needs to outline the benefits of decreasing screen time are (not just the boundaries within the screens).

Examples:

• Playing outside.
• Reading, books, colouring etc.
• Learning new skills.
• Interactive play.
• Sleep (minimising blue light, alerts during the night etc.).
• Exercise.
• Digital Citizenship

This conversation should be started young and continued as each child grows up. This includes identifying and discussing online bullying. This is an important topic that needs constant discussion within the family.

Reach Out have some great resources for parents when dealing with cyberbullying.

• Questions to ask yourself about your Family & their Digital Responsibilities:
• How is our family expected to behave online?
• What happens if these expectations aren’t met?

Online Safety

This is another ongoing discussion to have with your family members. Talk about how to ensure personal information is kept safe, sensitive photos are not shared, being aware of who you’re connecting with, privacy policies etc.