Feature The Newland Family Silas Newland: The kids and I are dual US/Canada citizens and Erica is a US citizen. We’ve lived in Beijing almost two years. Erica works for Intel and I work for Morris Williams, a real estate company based in the US. Both Kylie (11) and Lance (9) attend the International Montessori School of Beijing.
What part does screen time play in your family? We never put the TV on at home unless we’re watching sports as a family. Instead, we ride our bikes, do puzzles, read a lot, and most of all engage in imaginative play. We believe that the family that plays together stays together! We also watch DVDs once a week; often, it’s Thomas the Tank Engine – Will’s favorite. Will also loves the tactile, interactive nature of the iPad. He usually makes a movie every weekend with his dad Doug, which can take two to three hours.
What part does screen time play in your family? Except on trips longer than 1.5 hours and the odd family movie night, screen time almost exclusively centers on dedicated eReaders such as our Nooks by Barnes & Noble. In the evenings, we play board games, read together, take the dog for a walk, or go for a bike ride. Lance is learning how to code via a program called Small Basic. Both kids enjoy making stop-motion movies and using Microsoft Movie Maker to edit and produce. They’ve made countless Lego movies and scrolling-captures where drawings are wound from one reel to another – think a rocket ship traveling through the galaxy.
Do you restrict screen time? At Will’s age, under an hour of screen time is plenty; for Charlotte, there is none. We also avoid using electronic devices at meal times. At restaurants, we take a “restaurant bag,” which has toys, books, and play dough inside. We limit screen time rigorously because I see how zoned-out Will becomes after 30 minutes. His body and brain need stimulation, especially physical movement, and screen time reduces that considerably. When Will is over-engaged in tech, he’s not aware of his surroundings, he can’t hear us when we talk to him, he loses track of time, and he sometimes even forgets to go to the toilet.
Do you restrict screen time? We have read many studies that link brain development with the absence of digital media, so having a strict electronics policy from day one was pretty obvious. The children share a computer specifically for school work. Our youngest has access from 4pm to 6pm each day; the oldest gets an additional hour. The Internet is monitored and filtered by McAfee. No games, chat rooms, YouTube, [and the like] can be accessed during those times. In our house, the Internet is for academic endeavors only! We also worry what the kids might come across online; even innocuous search terms can return very disturbing results! We mitigate the risk by keeping the PC in a common area. I also monitor their apps. I can see everything that’s downloaded, so there’s no possibility of downloading new apps without my knowledge.
Do your kids have a TV in their bedroom? I am passionately against TVs in the bedroom. There’s so much crap out there that is absolutely unsuitable for kids. Why risk exposing them to sex and violence when they really don’t need to see it? I am even more passionately against bedroom computers. The net is so full of predators and unsuitable content. Children need our guidance to navigate all the muck.
Do your kids have a TV in their bedroom? No one in the family has a TV in the bedroom, as we think it creates too much focus on television and makes it harder to manage screen time. Do you experience conflict with your children over screen time? We have been using the same methods for a few years now and there are no conflicts about the rules. Although we can limit screen time at our house, it is impossible to manage it at other people’s homes, and we know we will have still less control as they mature. But if we’ve done our job right, they will make good choices whether we are there or not. How was your childhood different from your kids’ when it comes to screen time? Growing up in Vermont, I lived between mountains that blocked all television reception, and my childhood tech revolved around the sole PC that my school had available to the students. Are there benefits to exposing kids to technology at a young age? Technology is everywhere and very easy to interact with. Our children have plenty of exposure to “screen time” through school and our limited allowance. I don’t believe there’s any risk that tech-light kids will be left behind. If we create a love of learning, then children will embrace technology at the right time as an additional tool.
Do you experience conflict with your children over screen time? Not currently, as they are simply too young. But the situation may change as they get older and peer pressure gets stronger. I hope that by discussing with them the rights and responsibilities they have as members of our family and of the community, they learn to value the concept of balance. How was your childhood different from your kids’ when it comes to screen time? What screen time? We watched the occasional movie and some cartoons on weekend mornings. I didn’t use a computer consistently until I left home to board for Grade 11 and 12. I didn’t even have a cell phone till the ripe old age of 21! Are there benefits of exposing kids to technology at a young age? Purposeful, supervised technology can be exciting, educational and fun – a great springboard into the plugged-in world. But it’s critical that tech is about creation, not just consumption. Creative technology could potentially transform society with communal wisdom and global change. Tech can be used for harm but, overwhelmingly, it can be used for social good. It’s up to parents and educators to guide kids through the information maze, and open them up to the wider world.
The Taylor Family Rebecca Taylor: We’re an Australian family beginning our fifth year in Beijing. Doug is one of the elementary technology integrators at the Western Academy of Beijing; I am an elementary teacher currently working from home promoting my online children’s shoe business and finishing my Master’s of Teacher Librarianship. We have two kids: son Will (4) and daughter Charlotte (1). Will attends WAB.
September 2013
beijingkids
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