Student learning · Grades 6–8 · 45 minutes
The Family Media Agreement
A student leads their whole household in building a family media plan the way doctors recommend, covering sleep, meals, content, and screen-free time, so the rules are made with everyone instead of handed to the kids.
Most household screen rules are handed down and resented. Pediatric guidance suggests the opposite works better: a family media plan the whole household builds together, one that covers more than minutes, when devices sleep, whether screens come to meals, what content fits which ages, and protected screen-free time, and that holds adults to the same standards as kids. In this activity the student becomes the facilitator. They learn what a good media plan actually covers, practice running a fair family meeting in class, and then lead that meeting at home: gathering everyone's needs, proposing agreements, handling pushback, and writing a plan each person signs. The stance is balanced and realistic: the plan is not a ban list and not a promise that screens are harmless; it is a living agreement a family revisits, built on the idea that people follow rules they helped write. Students practice leadership, negotiation, and the self-advocacy of asking adults to model what they ask of kids.
In this packet
- Handout A: What a Good Plan Covers (checklist)
- Handout B: Run the Family Meeting (worksheet)
- Handout C: Our Family Media Agreement (worksheet)
TCEA ELE indicators
- S4.1 I know how to take responsibility for my own learning.
- S3.1 I know how to work effectively in a team.
- S3.2 I can communicate my ideas clearly to others.
- S2.1 I know how to protect my personal information online.
Full facilitator guide: mglearn.github.io/eles/activities/family-media-agreement.html
Handout A for The Family Media Agreement
What a Good Plan Covers
A strong family media plan covers much more than minutes. With a partner, rank which of these your own family most needs to talk about.
| We need this most | Doing okay | Not sure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Device bedtimes: screens out of bedrooms overnight so everyone's sleep is protected. | |||
| Charging spot: where all devices (including adults') rest and charge at night. | |||
| Mealtimes: whether and when meals are screen-free. | |||
| Screen-free activities: protected time for sleep, exercise, homework, and being together. | |||
| Content and age-fit: what shows, games, and apps fit which family members. | |||
| Online kindness and privacy: how we treat others online and what we keep private. | |||
| Adults too: which agreements apply to the grown-ups, not just the kids. | |||
| Flexibility: how the plan bends for trips, sick days, projects, and special events. | |||
| Review date: when we will revisit and adjust the plan together. |
Notes
Handout B for The Family Media Agreement
Run the Family Meeting
You are the facilitator. Use this script and gather everyone's needs BEFORE you propose any agreement. Family note: your student is practicing leading a fair meeting; please take part honestly and let them run it.
OPEN: Say why we're meeting. ("We're building a family media plan together so the rules make sense and apply to everyone.") Write your opening line:
GATHER NEEDS: Go around. What does each person need or worry about with screens? (Write everyone's name and need, including the adults'.)
PROPOSE: Suggest agreements that try to meet those needs. Jot your first proposals:
INVITE PUSHBACK: Ask "What doesn't work about this?" and adjust. Note what you changed:
Handout C for The Family Media Agreement
Our Family Media Agreement
Record what your family agreed to, then everyone signs. Remember: at least one agreement must apply to the adults, and set a date to revisit it.
Device bedtimes and charging spot (where phones sleep at night):
Mealtime and screen-free times we agreed on:
Content and age-fit agreements (what fits which family member):
An agreement that applies to the ADULTS too:
One thing I (the facilitator) had to compromise on:
Review date and signatures of everyone who agrees: