Content submitted by Mary Anne Seraphin. If you have an event to promote, email news@westfordcat.org.
The Westford Parent Connection presents Screenagers: Growing Up In The Digital Age, followed by a discussion with Mediatrician® Dr. Michael Rich, founder and director of the Center On Media And Child Health (CMCH). This event – which is free and open to the public – will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Stony Brook Middle School, 9 Farmer Way, Westford.
Physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston takes a deeply personal approach as she probes into the vulnerable corners of family life, including her own, to explore struggles over social media, video games, academics, and Internet addiction. Through poignant, unexpectedly funny stories, along with surprising insights from authors, psychologists, and neurologists, Screenagers reveals how screen time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance.
Rushton saw her kids scroll through life with rapid-fire thumbs and a six-second attention span. She learned that the average kid spends more than six hours a day looking at screens. She wondered about the impact of all this time and about the friction occurring in homes and schools around negotiating screen time – friction she knew all too well.
Dr. Michael Rich is an associate professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, associate professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, and practices Adolescent Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. As founder and director of the Center On Media And Child Health (CMCH), Rich facilitates the Ask The Mediatrician® website. Prior to becoming a pediatrician, Rich had a film career for more than a decade. He studies media as a force that powerfully affects child health and behavior and uses media as a tool for medical research, education, health care policy, and patient empowerment.
The runtime for Screenagers is 68 minutes. After the film, Rich will discuss his research and take questions from the audience.
For more information about the film, visit http://www.screenagersmovie.com/. To learn more about Dr. Michael Rich, go to http://cmch.tv/about-us/our-team/michael-rich/.
For details about the Westford Parent Connection, check out http://www.westford.org/wpc/ or contact Westford Parent Connection President Mary Anne Seraphin at mseraphin@comcast.net.
