Sharing Mindful Time

 It can be a challenge to find "extra" time in your day. We all feel the rush of the day and the demands to get it all done before we go to sleep. As we think about our time we might take a step back and reflect on our own time on a screen as well as the time our students spend on a screen.

We all spend a lot of time in front a screen. For some it is work based, for many others is it social media based. 

When we evaluate our time and we see social media time we can practice some mindfulness with our time.

We can do this with our students.

This concept is called "Join Media Engagement." This is an idea that we can spend time on a screen with our student.

There are some great mindfulness apps for phones. There are educational games for phones, tablets, and computers. And of course there are the games that children and adults like to play for fun.

Take some time to find a great app or educational game that can be play together and spend time interacting with each other as you spend time on the screens.

Studies show us that we all spend too much time on a screen and not enough time interacting with people, face-to-face. 

Social engagement skills are lacking for so many youth today. The ability to solve conflict and have interpersonal relationships has become more challenging with the increase of social media and gaming.

Joint Media Engagement can also be a great way to check in on your students social media. If you have a set nightly time/weekly time, to have this time you can build in a social media check. 

As a school behavior specialist I am presented with a lot of concerns related to social media conflicts which find there way into the school day. 

Our students often use apps such as SnapChat, TikTok, and Whatsapp to interact with their peers. During these interactions the students are not always kind. Often they feel safe from consequences and are meaner than in real life. 

This mindful family join media time can build a stronger more connected relationship between you and your student, as well as teach them social media behavior and responsibility.