Gloria DeGaetano (Co-author of the Best-selling Book Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie, and Video Game Violence) Shares Her Reflections 20 Years After Columbine

    BELLINGHAM, WA, April 19, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On Wednesday of this week, just days leading up to the 20th anniversary of the attack at Columbine High School, an 18-year-old Miami teen, infatuated with the perpetrators of Columbine, bought a gun and threatened Colorado public schools. She caused hundreds of school shutdowns but even more brought parents, students and teachers the same haunting fear felt on the day of the Columbine shooting—a day that ushered in the modern era of mass shootings at U.S. schools.

There is perhaps no bigger or more important issue in America at present than youth violence. Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Parkland: We know them all too well, and for all the wrong reasons. Kids, some as young as eleven years old, taking up arms and, with deadly, frightening accuracy, murdering anyone in their paths. What is going on?

According to Gloria DeGaetano (parenting expert, pioneer of media literacy, and author of Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill and Parenting Well in a Media Age: Keeping our Kids Human), the prolific use of sensational violence in television, movies, and in video games affects kids' attitudes and actions. Throughout her books and teachings, Gloria shares tips for how families can counter media violence with media literacy. DeGaetano suggests, "while talking with children about media is critical, parents can also build a home environment which will support thoughtful use of TV, movies and video games." Here are 5 Ways DeGaetano Advices Parents Can Teach Media Literacy at Home.

In her blog Left to Our Devices this week, DeGaetano shares Reflections: 20 Years After Columbine. In addition to talking with their children about media violence, parents could benefit from having access to a compassionate coach who is an expert in child and adolescent development and who could help them prioritize their children's developmental needs, despite daily demands and media's pervasive sway. DeGaetano asserts, "When kids' critical cognitive and social-emotional needs are met, the likelihood of them wanting to harm others plummets, increasing the likelihood that families and society will flourish."

Gloria DeGaetano is a mom, an educator, a parenting expert and a pioneer of the media literacy movement. In 1988, Gloria moved forward with her dream of supporting teachers and parents to help children use screen technologies wisely, with intentional purpose, by founding her first company GrowSmartBrains. In 1991 she developed and organized the first Media Literacy Conference in the United States, bringing together a diverse group of teachers, sociologists, psychologists, researchers, parents and advocates. With her groundbreaking book, Screen Smarts: A Family Guide to Media Literacy (co-authored with Kathleen Bander, Houghton Mifflin, 1995), she introduced the term, "family media literacy."

Gloria has written several popular books since then, including: Left to Their Devices, What's Left? (West Bow Press, 2012), Parenting Well in a Media Age: Keeping Our Kids Human (Personhood Press, 2004) which received the 2007 Parenting Media Award for excellence; and Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie, and Video Game Violence, with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman (Harmony Books, Random House, LLC, 2014, revised version). Gloria is currently working on an updated version of Parenting Well in a Media Age to include eight guiding principles and eight best practices that have helped thousands of parents pro-actively, and with more ease than they ever imagined, manage technology successfully at every stage of their children's growth. Parent Well for Life is slated for release in the fall of 2019.

Gloria's articles have appeared in numerous publications. She has been recognized for her industry innovations as a guest on The Today Show and national radio shows, including NPR's Fresh Air, Marketplace, and The Tavis Smiley Show. With more than 30 years of experience working with children, teachers, and parents as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, district administrator, university instructor, speaker, and consultant, Gloria currently focuses her work at the Parent Coaching Institute training professionals to become PCI Certified Parent Coaches®.

If you would like more information about this topic and would like to schedule Gloria DeGaetano for an interview, please call Linda Sherran at 206-949-8956 or email at [email protected].

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