Reflecting on one’s own media habits

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Reflecting on one’s own media habits.

Although you may increasingly feel that your teenage sons or daughters no longer attach any value to your opinions and attitudes in the course of their puberty, you should not underestimate your influence on their opinion-forming process. You have been their key reference person all through your children’s formative years, essentially a compass to rely on and to guide them forward. Your children learned and learn from you how to orient themselves in the world, distinguish between right and wrong, and how to interact with other people, media and machines. This role does not simply disappear overnight.

Thus, you continue to fulfill an important role model function, even though your teenagers are beginning to loosen the bonds in your parent-child relationship. Therefore, it is important that parents know their own attitude and habits. Here, you have the opportunity to recognize and reflect on your own media behavior. Perhaps you recognize yourselves in your teenagers‘ seemingly ‘‘impossible“ media behavior?

Observe yourself:

• How do you communicate with real people?
• How do you communicate online? Do you make a distinction between these two?
• When, and at what time do you use the media?
• How often do you use the media in a day?
• How often do you unlock your handheld device to quickly check on the weather, e-mails, or answer a WhatsApp message?
• For what purpose do you use the media?
• Do you reach for the cell phone while eating or during conversations?
• Is your TV set turned on during other leisure activities?
• Are your computers or mobile devices constantly on to receive messages?