Celebrate FCS Day and "Dining In with Healthy Families"! Through the FCS Day initiative, AAFCS provides information, tools, and research on the benefits of families preparing and eating healthy meals together. In 2018, the #FCSDay initiative will have a special focus on the emotional and social aspects of family mealtime and promote device-free dinners.
Presenter(s): Michael Robb, PhD, Director of Research, & Caroline Knorr, Parenting Editor
Common Sense Media
About the Session: 93% of parents agree that dinnertime conversation helps them connect with their kids, but 58% are concerned that devices are getting in the way. Research shows that kids who have device-free dinners are happier and healthier; kids do better in school and have fewer problems with behavior and substance abuse, and families enjoy balanced media habits, better nutrition, and more in-person conversation.
Common Sense, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to kids’ well-being in the 21st century, developed the #DeviceFreeDinner movement to encourage families to take a break from their devices and enjoy family time. This session will focus on:
- statistics, trends, and attitudes and behaviors of families around device overuse and “tech addiction”;
- how the media and tech industry has built their products and services to be addictive and “sticky” to hook users;
- what families can do to support healthy relationships with media and tech at home, like device-free dinner, screen-time rules, and role-modeling;
- what educators can do to teach media balance and well-being to their students, like teaching digital citizenship, using media and tech for social good, and having open communication about how tech should be used in the classroom
Educators, parents, and high school and college age students who are interested in media and technology balance for themselves or their communities can benefit from this session. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. Common Sense Media empowers parents, teachers, and policymakers by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives.
About the Presenters:
Dr. Michael Robb is director of research at Common Sense Media and oversees the research program, evaluation of organizational impact, and program development research. Michael has been involved in issues involving media and children for over 15 years. He has published research in a variety of academic journals on the impact of electronic media on young children's language development, early literacy outcomes, and problem-solving abilities. Michael also has supervised community educational outreach efforts, helping parents and teachers make the most of quality children's programming.
Caroline Knorr is parenting editor at Common Sense Media and helps parents make sense of the media and technology in their kids’ lives. She has deep knowledge of childhood development and can expertly guide parents on how to integrate media and technology at every age and stage. She specializes in translating complex information into bite-sized chunks to help families make informed choices about their kids’ games, social media, apps, phones, movies and more.