Parenting Well in a Media Age
with Gloria DeGaetano on March 31^st

Do Einstein videos really help babies? Will I make my toddler smarter with Leap Frog?�� If all her friends are dressing hip-hop, how do I get my eight year-old to wear the decent clothes we can afford? How much time is too much time for my 9^th grader to spend chatting with friends on-line? How much is too much time for my 6^th grader text messaging? What about a TV or a computer in my child���s bedroom?

In our high-tech society parents are continually bombarded with choices���choices that are not always easy to make and choices that often have unintended consequences. Gloria DeGaetano will address the nitty-gritty issues of parenting in what she calls our ���industry-generated culture.��� De Gaetano has worked in this arena since 1987. She is the author of several books including, Screen Smarts: A Family Guide to Media Literacy. Her speaking has been nationally acclaimed and her audiences always walk away inspired, renewed, and resolved to make a difference. Over the years, DeGaetano has helped hundreds of Pacific Northwest parents develop sane strategies for their families, many coming back to her years later, thanking her, grateful for the information she had given them.

Why are parents so grateful to Gloria DeGaetano? Because the information she gives changes lives���often dramatically. In this lecture, she will share new research from her latest book, Parenting Well in a Media Age, showing how mass media impacts the emerging self-identity of our kids and how that, in turn, determines their behaviors, attitudes, and values. She will outline a ���parenting plan��� to make sure our children grow up in this media age with a strong sense of self and that they understand how to control screen technologies���not be controlled by them. ���Since the screen machine dominates so much of daily life, the tasks of parenting have changed significantly,��� DeGaetano states. She will describe these new parenting tasks and examine how they are critical to our children���s well-being.

At the beginning of the lecture, DeGaetano finds out the ages of the attendants��� children and is prepared to address specific concerns so that everyone walks away with vital information and useful strategies that can be implemented immediately. Topics discussed include: Making parent choices based on the brain���s needs at specific ages of development; motivating media-saturated kids; research-based techniques for enhancing children���s unique talents and skills; criteria for making decisions about Game Boys, video games, and computers; addressing peer pressure head-on with heart; and immunizing our families from the potential damage of media���s negative effects.

Gloria���s book, Parenting Well in a Media Age, will be available for purchase at a discount at the event that will be held March 31^st at the Friday Harbor High School Commons fro 6-8 p.m.�� Light refreshments and childcare will be provided compliments of the FHMS PTSA.�� For more information, please call Cynthia, Executive Coordinator, San Juan Island Prevention Coalition at 378-9683, or Gail Leschine-Seitz, Readiness to Learn Specialist at Friday Harbor Elementary School, 378-5209.