Virtual Event: Managing Kids’ Screen Time in the Pandemic

Although there has always been debate about the opportunities and challenges screen time offers, there was at least a list of best practices that we could use as a guide. Then the pandemic made technology critical for both our children’s academic and social experiences. What do best practices look like now? And how can (or should) we come back from the tech overload of the last seven months? Dr. Walsh will go through the parameters that are worth instituting this school year to help set children up for success navigating in-person and remote learning. Particular focus will be on thinking about quantity vs. quality of tech use and addressing challenges like multitasking and managing digital socializing. While Dr. Walsh will provide a research-based approach, she is also a working mother of two technology-obsessed kids so she will also offer insights into which rules to follow closely and which to worry less about as we navigate this new time. This talk will be relevant for families with children of any age, but a particular focus will be on Pre-K through middle school.

Jill Walsh, Ph.D., is a researcher and lecturer at Boston University. She obtained a doctorate in Sociology from Boston University in 2014, and earlier earned a master’s in Public Policy from Brown University and a B.A. from Harvard University. Prior to completing her graduate coursework, she taught, coached, and mentored high school students at the Noble and Greenough School for five years. Her recent work examines the way social media, and the need to document the self online, has altered the paths to adolescent development. Her dissertation, entitled The Highlight Reel and Real Me: How Adolescents Construct the Facebook Fable, is a multi-method study arguing that Facebook has become a public space where adolescents engage in self-reflection and dialogue. This work has been developed into a book, Adolescence and Their Social Media Narratives: A Digital Coming of Age. She currently teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses on the intersection between society and technology, with an emphasis on the millennial generation.

Visit www.drjillwalsh.com for more information about her work and to purchase her book, Adolescents and Their Social Media Narratives: A Digital Coming of Age.

Please note that this presentation will NOT be recorded.