Organization Description
Common Sense Media rates movies, TV shows, books, and more so parents can feel good about the entertainment choices they make for their kids. They offer the largest, most trusted library of independent age-based ratings and reviews. Their timely parenting advice supports families as they navigate the challenges and possibilities of raising kids in the digital age. Their vision: Families taking charge of their digital choices.
Impact of SCE Support
In our first engagement with Common Sense Media, we supported the organization in developing an innovative Learning Ratings Platform designed to help parents and educators assess the learning value of digital media products. The system promotes a fresh vision of deeper learning and elevates the way we think about the learning potential of digital media.
This project’s primary purpose was to give consumers better information—on Common Sense Media’s website and via its distribution partners—so they can make more informed decisions when using or buying digital media. The direct result is that better media will end up in the hands of children; CSM provides an incentive to industry to create better software, apps, games, and sites for kids by indirectly stimulating demand for higher-quality products.
In our second engagement with Common Sense Media, we partnered with both Common Sense Media and Harvard University’s Project Zero on a grant to identify the most pressing digital topics that youth face today. This partnership ensured that Common Sense Media’s new middle and high school Digital Citizenship Curriculum was solidly based on the digital dilemmas that young people today are experiencing, as heard from youth themselves. The goal was for the new resources to resonate with and engage young people in a way that effectively develops the skills and habits of mind to use technology to learn, create, and collaborate.
By engaging directly with youth, Project Zero explored topics such as media balance and well-being; digital footprint and identity, relationships and communication; cyberbullying, digital drama and hate speech; news and media literacy; and privacy and security. In addition to informing Common Sense Media’s new curriculum, the findings were published in a report that provides a wealth of information to ground practitioners with a solid overview of research related to digital life and digital dilemmas. This research has propelled meaningful dialogue on ways to support young people as they navigate the digital landscape.
