Have you ever taken a moment to contemplate Prime Time? I guess I hadn’t ever really done it, except to think about the shows that qualify as prime time and the ones that don’t, until a recent conversation with a colleague got me thinking.

A number of years ago, she and her husband consciously built a rule around screens because they didn’t want their children’s family hang-out time to center around evening screens, like they felt their childhood had. You know that “lets watch our favorite show after supper” routine.

So they created No Screen Prime Time from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.- and they did other things together like games, homework, and reading. No screens, — not TV, not computer, not cell phone- NONE! And that was for the parents, too, and not even research for homework gets a waiver, so plan ahead!! So, I explored a little. The definition of Prime includes: one of the most important, and of the greatest relevance or significance. So the question I am grappling with today is: do I ever want to call anything on a screen my family’s Prime Time?

I don’t, so my challenge to you is this: Claim your Prime Time! Decide what it is that deserves your family’s most important and significant time. For a lot of families, the time after supper is the only time in a day that you’re all together- so whats your Prime Time? Maybe its a movie or show, but maybe– on some days it’s not!

I think tonight, I’m going to suggest a game of Bannanagrams (and if you haven’t ever played it, I highly recommend it), and you can even buy it on Amazon through the National Institute on Media and the Family’s website and you’ll make a small gift to the Institute, too, if you order through this link!

http://www.mediafamily.org/store/shop_and_support.shtml

Hey, why don’t you share some of your favorite Prime Time activities with us and post a comment!

Jenny Buck

About the author: Jenny Buck is the Development Director at the National Institute on Media and the Family and parent of 2 teenage sons.