End of the parenting talk series of this season

The Foundation ended its parenting talk series, part of the Parenting program, with a talk entitled ‘Children, Parents and the Media: Friend or Foe for Families in the Digital and Wireless Age’ presented by Dr Kyle Pruett, clinical professor at Yale Child Study Centre.

The parenting talk, which is designed to support and empower parents and other caregivers of young children and to provide information on best practices that promote healthy outcomes for children, focused on the importance of caregivers’ interaction during the early years of a child and on ways of using child-friendly technology to ensure beneficial outcomes.

Dr Pruett explained that children’s interaction with TVs, computers, tablets and smart phones can disrupt their cognitive growth by upsetting their learning, focus, social skills, and play engagement. Studies have also shown a directly proportional relationship between the increasing rate of obesity in children and their increased screen time.

Dr Pruett added that research has helped us understand that there are some ways in which the media consumption can be used to help parents in their job as their child’s first teacher, and ways it can interfere with the same job.

This season’s parenting talks covered topics such as ‘The Importance of Early Childhood Development Programs,’ ‘Can’t you get along? Parenting your children beyond sibling rivalry,’ ‘Bullying Experience in Youth: Nature and Intervention’, and ‘Becoming a parent.’

The third series of the parenting talk will also be held at the Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi and in Al Ain from September 2015 onwards.