Latest Entries

Healthy Media Choices

Attention: The heart of the matter

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

We see the need both to bring the sunshine of our attention to young children and to help them develop their own. The question is: how can time be found in the crazy-busy lives of families with young children for nurturing close relationships, resiliency, and the attention everyone needs for life? Parents and teachers see … Continue reading →

Healthy Media Choices

Being Resolute

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

Somehow, New Year’s resolutions leave me cold. Probably, this is because of experience with starting with an idea about what would be “better,” only to find that it was just that – an idea, with its own set of unintended consequences. Being resolute, actually finding a place in myself that can stand up to inertia and … Continue reading →

Commercialization / Media / What's on my mind

Questioning the “New Normal”

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

Amazon’s advertisement: “We are the People With the Smile on the Box,” brought media ecologist Neil Postman to mind. On page twenty of his book Technopoly, he says: New technologies alter the structure of our interests: the things we think about. They alter the character of our symbols: the things we think with. And they … Continue reading →

attention / Early Childhood / healthy famiy / Healthy Media Choices / Nature / Rituals

Mr. Rogers and the Magic of Attention

Posted on October 3, 2019 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

Mr. Rogers shows us how to transform the ordinary with attention. Continue reading →

Early Childhood / family media literacy / Healthy Media Choices / Media Literacy Education / Parents / Teachers

Possible Marriage: “Medical” and Media Literacy Approaches to Technology in Early Childhood

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

Reading “Media Literacy In Early Childhood: Inquiry-Based Technology Integration” by Faith Rogow sharpened my understanding of the different paradigms that govern thinking about technology in early childhood education. First, the fundamental difference between what Rogow calls the “medical model” based on the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Media Literacy Educators model … Continue reading →

Advertising / children and television / Early Childhood / family media literacy / Healthy Media Choices / Media Literacy Education

Entertainment Media Educates

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

“Experts Defend Videogames’ Educational Role,” La Prensa’s article on a study from researchers at the Open University of Catalonia, caught my eye. What the researchers point to is the need for Ludoliteracy, an understanding of how video games work, what they teach and how they influence us as humans. They point to the marginalization of … Continue reading →

Advertising / Commercialization / Family / gender / Grandparents / Parents

Gender Identification Begins…

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

This was originally posted on February 28. I’m updating because I want to add JeongMee Yoon’s work: “Pink is For Girls….” from Slate.com “The consumer embryo begins to develop in the first year of existence…Children begin their consumer journey in infancy…and they certainly deserve consideration as consumers at that time.” James U. McNeal, Pioneering Youth … Continue reading →

children and media / Healthy Media Choices

What are We Sacrificing?

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

The current Verizon ad asks: “What are you giving up?” by not being on the largest, most reliable network, sharing every moment, streaming all night long, watching a movie in a tent, drowning out the sounds of nature, all around? The more relevant question, especially for those with young children, is: What are you giving … Continue reading →

Healthy Media Choices

Very Young Children and Gaming

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

As I walked through the crowded and cavernous Union Square subway mezzanine recently, my step aligned with those of a man who was bent over as he walked with hands on the shoulders of a young boy he was guiding through rush hour commuters. The boy’s head was down. Was physically disabled in some way? … Continue reading →

Alternative Stories / Family / Parents / Rituals

Just Before the Family Meal

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Mary Rothschild • Leave a comment

Family meal times are getting a lot of press right now, and high time. Recent articles in The Christian Science Monitor by Mary Beth McCauley and the New York Times by Susan Dominus as well as the Huffington Post’s on-going series “Family Dinner Table Talk” extoll the virtues of this time-honored (but oft neglected) family … Continue reading →

Healthy Media Choices

Strategies that Work for Parents and Teachers of Young Children

How to assess on-line resources about media and young children:

Parents of Children Birth to Age Six

Childcare Providers, Preschool Teachers and Schools

Faith and Humanist Communities

Supporting Sensory Health in Young Children

Four Steps to Intentional Media Use with Young Children

Attention: The heart of the matter

Being Resolute

Questioning the “New Normal”

Mr. Rogers and the Magic of Attention

Possible Marriage: “Medical” and Media Literacy Approaches to Technology in Early Childhood

Entertainment Media Educates

Gender Identification Begins…

What are We Sacrificing?

Very Young Children and Gaming

Just Before the Family Meal