Common Sense Media
May 20, 2017
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| https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ |
Common sense media is a website (and app) that gives parents information on all media that’s out there. It is a great tool for all parents (and educators) everywhere. In my teaching days, I used to always check here before offering a book to read to a 3rd grader and was always an app I communicated with the parents of those kids who read above grade level, kids who are ready to read more advanced books but could not necessarily be mature enough to read them.
Common Sense Media has information of movies, books, tv shows, video games, apps and websites. You can search my age (between 2 to 18 years old) or simply type in the title of whatever you are looking for and it will give you information about it.
What information does it give?
If it’s a movie, it will tell you a user minimum age the movie could be appropriate for, the user rating, the rating, genre, release year and duration. It also tells you the degree of positive messages, positive role models, violence, sex, language, consumerism and drinking, drugs and smoking that happen in the film:
It then gives a description of events that happen in the movies, what the story is about and if it’s any good. Finally, it gives you ideas of topics/questions to talk about with your kids, which I think is fantastic.
An example of a book, video game and app:
I have the app on my phone and use it at least once a week. I use it when deciding whether we can take the kids to a PG-13 movie, whenever my oldest wants to check out a young adult book from the library or when the kids watch shows on Netflix and I want to know more about them.
Both the app and the website offer a free account where you can select the ages of your kids. This allows the app/website to give you recommendations, too!
I highly recommend this app. It’s free to download, easy to use and useful.
cheers!
