October 07, 2024, Durham, NC – Research has shown that tweens and teens make healthier decisions when their parents have high-quality conversations with them about sex, puberty, relationships, sexual violence, gender stereotypes, and substance use. However, parents sometimes avoid having conversations with their children about these topics because they find it overwhelming or uncomfortable. In addition, parents may not know how to begin these conversations or what they should be talking with their child about.
Many parents feel concerned about how consistent media exposure in the digital age may be impacting their children, including how it may be impacting their thoughts and decisions about sex, relationships, and substance use. They may also wonder how they may protect their child from any negative impacts of media exposure.
iRT Research Scientist Dr. Christina Dodson has been presenting interactive, in-person workshops for parents of tweens and teens to teach them how media may impact their child; share ways they may mitigate the negative impacts of media use on their children; and help them learn ways to navigate conversations with their children about sex, media, substance use, and more.
Dr. Dodson’s workshop, entitled “Parenting in the Digital Age: Using Media Literacy to Raise Media-Savvy Kids and Teens,” provides parents with insight about how teens are interacting with media today and how the media landscape has changed in recent years. For example, today, teens are almost constantly connected online, media is on demand, celebrity has expanded to include social media influencers, and teens have become media producers, not just consumers. Parents participating in the workshop are able to not only learn about how media may impact their child but also share how they have personally observed media influencing their child.
Workshop participants discuss how both parents and media are sources of information about sex and substance use for teens. Because the teens are formative years for young people, it is important to ensure that teens know how to access high-quality information online and be critical of any unreliable sources of information. Parents learn about specific communication strategies that they can practice to have high-quality conversations about important topics with their child and empower their children to be critical consumers of media. Dr. Dodson leads parents in developing effective family rules about media use that do not just include restriction of media use but also provide guidelines for how to safely consume media.
If you are interested in hosting this workshop for parents at your school, church, community group, organization, or elsewhere, please contact Dr. Christina Dodson at cdodson@irtinc.us for more information.