Building Healthy Relationships with Media: Essential Skills for Children 10 and Younger

This American Academy of Pediatrics resource provides practical strategies for helping children aged 10 and younger develop healthy media habits before they reach adolescence. The guide outlines seven key approaches: making media use a regular, low-drama topic of family conversation; normalizing boundaries around screen time; selecting high-quality content; teaching children non-screen methods to manage emotions and boredom; building digital literacy and online kindness; teaching safety skills for navigating online spaces; and encouraging thoughtful "sharenting" (parents sharing about their children online). The resource includes downloadable activity cards in English and Spanish with interactive games like "Scam Finder" and "Pop-up-Ad Whack-a-Mole" to engage younger children in discussions about media use.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Center of Excellence (CoE) on Social Media and Youth Mental Health is dedicated to creating a healthy digital ecosystem for children and adolescents.

Social media use starts during childhood and can play a significant role in the relationships and experiences that impact children and teens’ growth, development and mental health.

The Center’s work is guided by its co-Medical Directors, Megan Moreno, MD, MPH, MSEd, FAAP and Jenny Radesky, MD, FAAP, who are pediatricians and experts in the field of youth development and media. Internally, Center Director Nicole Owings-Fonner leads a strong team of program, communications and mental health professionals.