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daughter’s in-person interactions parent,” she explains. with friends usually also involve Although Bradford says her cellphones, she says they laugh daughter initiated her own limits about what they’re seeing on on cellphone use, implementing Instagram and discuss social media an hourlong ban each night, many posts and timelines. parents wonder when to intervene “I don’t know that I see a negative and limit teens’ screen time and in it,” says encourage Bradford, who in-person has “friended” interactions. TIPS her daughter Experts say there’s online. “I think no one-sizeCaroline Knorr, parenting what it does do, fits-all solution. editor for Common Sense it relieves some Some suggest Media, advises parents to focusing more on of that anxiety take control of their teens’ identifying online about having to screen time by: activities that may communicate help teens become with other people uCreating device-free rooms in the home more social, such — with adults. as chronicling She would much uSetting rules for devicetheir hobbies or rather send a free family time interests in a blog ‘thank you’ text uConnecting with your or volunteering message, rather kids online with a charity. than calling them. “The panic She doesn’t have uEncouraging your kids about screen time to worry about to “block” bullies is distracting what the next uScheduling time spent people from question will be. outdoors and with friends asking thoughtful She can maintain uLeading by example questions about her politeness, what we would and it removes like our kids to do awkwardness.” online,” says Sonia Using social Livingstone, a social psychologist media creates a buffer that some at the London School of Economics might consider anti-social, but and Political Science. “What would Bradford says reading discussions be good things to do? We want to about sensitive issues online helps switch the conversation away from her daughter broach these topics with her. “We talk a lot about (the) number of hours of screen time fashion, entertainers and what and start focusing on the kinds of they’re doing and what her friends activities and how it makes us feel.” l are doing. That’s her way of bringing USA TODAY writer Ken Alltucker up conversations that would be hard for a teenager to bring up to a contributed to this article.
94 BACK TO SCHOOL | FALL 2019