I was never going to be a parent who fretted about screen time. After a decade working in various university media studies departments, I was pretty jaded about the dire warnings regularly dripping into the public domain.
For a start, media consumption has always worried someone. In the 1700s, novels were supposed to inflame the senses; newspapers fed "lurid tastes"; movies would terrify gullible people; Batman made boys gay; rock’n’roll was lewd; my generation’s brains were "rotted" by television. Et cetera.
Such fears help powerful groups justify controlling access to media: authorities (doctors, aristocrats, teachers, parents) are forever condemning some dreadful text adored by weak-minded "subordinates" (workers, women, POC, children) and calling for restrictions.
And children are the worst. For 200 years, adults have painted them as our opposites in every way: vulnerable, tasteless, and irresponsible. Parents were morally obliged to protect them by controlling—well, everything, because whatever they like is harmful. Especially screens. Doctors said so.
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Rebecca Farley is a recovering academic. She taught media and cultural studies for ten years and helped edit the journals Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media and Social Semiotics. During that time, she was also busy earning her BA, BA (Hons), and MA from the University of Queensland; a postgraduate certificate in education from the University of Portsmouth; and a PhD on play and power from Cardiff University. She is married to a man with an equal number of tertiary qualifications.
None of this, however, prepared her in any way for parenting a pair of bright, intense school-refusers. After six years of daily battle, Rebecca finally accepted that this might be a wiring issue rather than a behavioural one. She now writes about the journey of learning about her kids’ various intensities, remembering her own diagnosed giftedness, finding an online community and a local homeschooling tribe, and readjusting every single last one of her life’s expectations. Rebecca and her family live in Brisbane, Queensland, and none of them have ever overthought anything.
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GHF is Proud to Support Let's Talk 2e! |
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GHF Board Members, Volunteers, and Friends are some of the speakers at Let's Talk 2e! |
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To OWN the Let’s Talk 2e! virtual conference, purchase your ALL ACCESS PASS and receive these incredible benefits:
- Access 24/7 forever
- Audio files to listen to on the go
- Free gifts from each speaker
- Full access to the virtual Exhibitor Hall
- Live Q/A opportunity with experts in October
I hope to see you there!
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Screen Time.
By Celi Trépanier, MEd
I know this means computer screen time, but I am old enough to remember when the Wicked Witch of the West for screen time for my kids was the television. The warnings that too much TV would cause mental and physical health issues like changing brain patterns and morphing our children into violent, law-breaking delinquents terrified us. Parents were scared, and they reacted by severely limiting their children's time in front of the television.
And some of us weren't as concerned. We sat with our kids and were as captivated as they were with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teletubbies, and SpongeBob SquarePants. If one unscientific instance of anecdotal evidence is enough for you, I can say my television-loving children all grew up to be responsible, productive, and contributing members of society. Ummm wait, the jury may still be out on my twenty-year-old because together, we watched way too much SpongeBob SquarePants.
In our featured article, GHF Writer Rebecca Farley is pragmatic about screen time. She calms those parental fears about torpedoing our kiddo's futures with too much screen time. She says, "And that, I think, is the crux of it. Every family is different. Wiring, health, mental health, and circumstances (not to mention socioeconomic factors) vary so widely—not just within and between families, but also over time—that blanket guidelines need to be taken with a giant pinch of salt."
A giant pinch of salt—those are wise words.
In the new GHF Forum, you will find many wise words, and support, and resources—actually, you'll find a huge gifted community holding open their arms to you as you travel your gifted journey. In the GHF Forum, you will find our GHF Writers' Showcase, a wealth of informative and resourceful articles from our GHF writers. Our writers offer you their experiences, expertise, and sometimes their elation and exasperation. GHF's writers are educators, mental health professionals, and seasoned parents who share their wise words for all of us to benefit from.
And if you are finding yourself suddenly homeschooling during this pandemic, the GHF Forum has many wise words for you, too!
All of us here at GHF are working to provide you with all the tools and information you need for your gifted journey. Please let us know what we can do for you. We wish you and your family health, patience, and strength.
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#MyGiftedStory is visual storytelling project that focuses on our nation’s gifted and talented population at every stage of life, from urban, suburban, and rural settings, representing zip codes from all fifty states.
Exploring the question, "Who gets to be gifted in America and why?" the project spotlights stories of giftedness that represent cultural and gender diversity from a variety of perspectives including discovery, neurodiversity, trauma, advocacy, education, equity, disability, and more.
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Free Subscription to 2e News for GHF Members! |
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Bridges 2e Media is delighted to extend to GHF members a free online subscription to 2e News.com.
2e News is a top provider of information and resources related to twice-exceptional education, with content updated weekly.
With a GHF Family Membership, you get a coupon code for a Free Subscription to 2e News online.
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By Adeyela Bennett
So, the question I often ask myself about Breanna, in particular, is this: is she isolated at school, and self-identifies as weird because she is one of the few Black students in a predominantly white school, or because of her gifted characteristics?
“Please stop calling me gifted, Mom! Everyone knows that means I’m stupid and weird and useless!” my dear Breanna cried out in utter frustration.
“No, sweetheart. It means you think differently,” I softly explained for the nth time. This time, I tried, quite unsuccessfully, to hold back the flood of tears gushing from my own soul. It is painful seeing my child so frustrated with her own identity as a gifted human being while also experiencing life through the lens of a Black girl-child.
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We Hope You Enjoy This GHF Press Latest Release! |
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Is Giftedness a myth? What is a Gifted Child? Why is Giftedness such a hot-button issue? Where does the fear and dislike of ‘gifted’ come from?
Come on an adventure about how Mrs Einstein, newspaper articles from the 1920s, and the San people of the Kalahari Desert can help us understand what gifted is – and is not.
In an easy-to-read style, Gifted Myths explores these and other stories on the history, science, and lived experience of gifted and twice-exceptional families.
Gifted Myths is a must-read for parents, educators, and professionals who work with gifted and twice-exceptional children.
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A Supportive Community for Gifted Learners |
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Come join us in the GHF Forum, our new online community where GHF will be sharing all of our services and resources. |
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FREE ACCESS to:
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Crowdsourced resource library (join the project)
- Discussions groups
- Parenting
- Professionals
- Gifted Adults
- Empty Nesters
- Regular Coffee Chats to take a break and share
INCLUDED in GHF Family Membership:
- GHF Expert Series
- GHF Member Discounts
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For those of you who can give at least $500 we have created a special recognition program where you will be listed on the GHF website and in our monthly newsletter, The GHF Journey, as valued members of the community. Donations may be kept anonymous.
- Catherine Gruener, M.A., M.A., LCPC, LCMHC, NCC, BC-TMH, Gruener Consulting LLC
- Rosemary Guillette
- Dr. Melanie Hayes, Big Minds Unschool
- Heidi Molbak, Seed Starter Educational Consulting
- Dan Peters, Summit Center
- Magalie Pinney, State Street’s Do More Grant
- Elizabeth Ringlee, The Champion Project
- Jade Ann Rivera, Sunnyside Micro-School
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GHF connects all sorts of people who love gifted learners. We offer both family and professional memberships to support and encourage adults working to create new ways of educating gifted learners. Our members homeschool gifted and twice-exceptional kids, run homeschool co-ops and microschools, write to foster understanding of gifted and twice-exceptional learners, mentor students one-on-one, teach online classes, provide services specifically designed to meet the social and emotional needs of gifted and twice-exceptional learners, and more. We'd love for you to join us.
GHF is a 501c3 organization. Please consider supporting our community with your most generous gift today. For more information on our organization, please feel free to contact us at info@ghflearners.org. Thank you!
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