How can teachers protect and promote children’s positive development in today’s media-saturated world? Our own Diane Levin has some powerful ideas on this topic – which she shares in her new book, Beyond Remote-Controlled Childhood: Teaching Young Children in the Media Age. Published by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), it is featured as the current Comprehensive Membership book. That means NAEYC is sending the book to over 20,000 members. This is excellent news for our early childhood field.
With the explosion of technology in young children’s lives – both in school and out of school – this book comes at a critical time. As the NAEYC website explains, it aims to help teachers:
- Adapt classroom practice to take into account the realities of remote-controlled childhood- the experiences of today’s connected children
- Counteract the potentially harmful impact media can have on both the process and content of children’s development and learning
- Help children and their families make informed decisions about screen time and media in children’s lives
- Work with families to address the impact of screen media
Here are some reviews:
“Never has it been more urgent for all who are responsible for the care, development, and education of young children, as well as for those involved in creating relevant legislation and regulations, to learn from Diane Levin’s extensive experience and research on media-related issues. This book includes recommendations and suggestions for how teachers and parents can best protect and promote the well-being of all our young children.”
— Lilian Katz, Professor Emerita, University of Illinois
“Diane Levin offers wise and timely advice to early childhood teachers about how to help children get beyond the powerful and pervasive media messages that can lead to remote-controlled childhood. ”
— Stephanie Feeney, Professor Emerita, University of Hawaii at Manoa
“As one of the world’s premier experts on children and the media, Diane Levin understands how today’s media culture is impacting children. This book analyzes how all types of media—TV programs, videos, video games, websites, music, advertisements, apps—are affecting children’s lives, including what and how they learn from these experiences, and offers realistic suggestions to teachers and parents for what to do about it.”
—Blakely Bundy, Executive Director, The Alliance for Early Childhood
(See more reviews at the NAEYC website)
