My Media Use: A Personal Challenge

When we think about our own media choices, we should consider:

• ​​​​​​Who, what, when, where, and why

• ​​​​​​Reading, writing, and arithmetic

• What, when, how much, and how we feel

Select the statement that describes healthy media balance?

• The goal of a healthy media-balance plan is to use as little media as possible.

• ​​​​​​​If you follow a healthy media-balance plan, you use digital media for one hour a day. 

• A media-balance plan may change over time as a person's interests and schedules change. 

Maya enjoys staying connected with friends on social media. Lately she's started to get a lot of notifications on her phone. Maya opens the app every time she sees a notification and is beginning to feel anxious about checking her friends' posts right away. What could Maya do to maintain a healthy media balance for herself?

• Maya could complain to her friends.

• ​​​​​​​Maya could change her phone settings so she does not receive notifications that distract her. 

• Maya could respond to her friends' posts, telling them how annoying they are.

• ​​​​​​​Maya could delete her account and never use social media again.

Ravi is learning to play the guitar and hopes to be in a band someday. He watches videos of people playing song covers so he can learn from them, but he usually spends more time watching videos than practicing. Whenever he picks up his guitar, he feels a little frustrated. Why might Ravi consider taking a break from the videos?

• The videos are not helpful and might encourage him to learn a different instrument.

• ​​​​​​​He might feel less frustrated if he spends more time practicing.

• He might be inspired to listen to a new artist.

• He likes watching the videos, so he should continue watching them to be less frustrated.

How confident do you feel in being able to find media balance in your life? 

• ​​​​​​​I feel very confident.

• I feel somewhat confident.

• ​​​​​​​I do not feel confident