Book Nook - The Mediatrician’s Guide: A Joyful Approach to Raising Healthy, Smart, Kind Kids in a Screen-Saturated World

 The Mediatrician’s Guide: A Joyful Approach to Raising Healthy, Smart, Kind Kids in a Screen-Saturated World is releasing on February 6, Safer Internet Day. The book is written by Dr. Michael Rich, dubbed the “Mediatrician” thanks to his acclaimed work as a pediatrician, child health researcher, and children’s media specialist. 

  

Child media literacy and safety on the internet is such a timely and poignant topic, constantly being discussed by parents across social media. Dr. Rich and his book will help parents try to find answers and best practices in this constantly evolving digital age. 

 

In Mediatrician’s Guide, Dr. Rich offers clinically tested practical strategies for parents looking for answers on how children’s media use can affect their physical, mental, and social health. With remarkable optimism and understanding, he reassures parents that they can successfully guide their kids through each developmental stage from infant to teen and young adult.

                

 

A filmmaker for 12 years before becoming a doctor, Dr. Rich combines his media knowledge and medical expertise to give readers a solid, evidence-based overview of what happens between a growing child and the ever-evolving digital ecosystem. The Mediatrician’s Guide provides accessible explanations of the science around screens and media that shows how children’s media use can affect their health and development.

 

This comprehensive resource is split into four sections:

• What?: Details the effects, both positive and negative, of media exposure on a child’s health and well-being during various stages of growth.
• So What?: Discusses specific health problems, including anxiety and depression, distorted body image, aggression, violence, alcohol, and other substance use, as well as positive examples of kids using media for good, such as addressing climate change, homophobia, and bullying.
• Now What?: Examines the context—when, where, and with whom—in which kids use media and how that context is as important as the content of the media they consume.
• Ages and Stages: A Digital Wellness Primer: Offers specific, actionable strategies and tips organized by children’s developmental stages.