Ani Miller-Martinez, 10, watches a video during her 15 minutes of computer time at their home in San Jose, Calif., on Dec. 14, 2016. A survey of 1,700 parents, by San Francisco-based Common Sense Media, found that parents of teens and 'tweens spent more than 9 hours a day on screen media, including 7 hours 43 minutes for personal use. That's nearly every waking minute outside a normal work day -- although multitasking like checking Instagram while watching TV racked up double minutes. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group/TNS)
"No TV until your homework is finished" used to be the easiest way to separate school work from screen time. Today, with IMs, YouTube, texting, and social media, that boundary is super blurry.
And because middle and high schoolers often have media and technology as part of their lessons and take-home assignments, it's tough for parents to know where to draw the line. Fortunately, the folks whose job it is to prepare kids to take on the world (including the digital one) know all about managing screen time, multitasking, online privacy, and even using tech tools at home. And they know your tweens and teens pretty well, too.
