Friday, February 21, 2020 5 Brooklin Town Crier My daughter loves her devices and makes good use of her daily screen time allowance. Still, I admit I worry about how much she's using them. There's plenty of research about how much screen time kids should get with new guidelines regularly coming from the medical community and "experts". The reality is that screen time isn't going away. Rather than saying it's the undoing of society, it's better to embrace it with mindfulness. Indeed, there's lots of bad stuff on the internet. It can be scary for parents to navigate new apps that might lure our children into who knows what. However screen time does have some positive attributes that help our children to develop important life skills. From learning world facts to developing creativity, there is good out there. Created videos Between games at a recent out-of-town hockey tournament. she and her teammates created music videos, TikTok videos and even a movie. Not only did their devices serve as a form of entertainment, but also as a creative outlet for their opinions. The girls spent hours bonding, laughing and learning important social skills. They took turns, organized roles, and incorporated everyone's ideas, applying skills that all came from using their devices. I was amazed at some of the ideas and effects that resulted. Apps like Minecraft as well as colour by numbers and problem-solving games are great for creativity. Ask any Mincrafter to give you a tour of the world they've built and you'll be amazed at how they design their homes, swimming pools, theatres and more. Just like LEGO helps kids build and learn how to follow instructions, apps like Minecraft provide similar skills. For those of you with a LEGO master at home, you'll appreciate not stepping on those little bricks. Learning through research Last week I asked her to think about what camps she'd like to go to this summer so she looked up local camps based on her interests. An hour later, she had a list of ones she thought would be good. Along the way, she picked up some interesting facts. "Did you know," she asked, "that field hockey is a boys sport in most countries except Canada, the U.S. and England?" For the last few months, she's been fascinated by baby development, inspired by the birth of her cousin. We found a website that showed how babies develop in the womb and in the first year of life. This past weekend, she proudly showed off her new cousin to her team. As the girls crowded around the baby, all dressed in their warmup uniforms and trying to get the infant to smile, she informed them that the baby couldn't see them. "He can only see about as far as the length of your arm," she told them. "We're all blurry to him." If you're worried your child is getting too much screen time, you can set a timer on their device so that it shuts down once the time allotment is up or at bedtime. While your child may find it frustrating at first, they will soon get used to it and learn to use the allotment wisely. So while many experts are touting the hazards of screen time, it good to remember that as technology advances, children who are comfortable using tech and who know how to self-regulate their technology usage will have the advantage. Rhonda Mulcahy Regional Councillor, TOWN OF WHITBY mulcahyr@whitby.ca|905.706.0482 Dreaming of Warmer Days 2020 Spring/Summer Activity Guide AVAILABLE NOW! Registration Begins February 27 at 9am All Programs (except aquatics & 55+ programs for non-Whitby residents) March 5 at 9am Aquatics & 55+ registration for non-Whitby residents CALL FOR PERFORMERS The Town is looking for interested bands and musical performers to play at events and festivals. Apply on-line by March 2, 2020 at 4pm 905.655.6200 • www.brooklineyecare.ca Screen Time Our Brooklin Kids By Leanne Brown SINGLE-USE PLASTICS SURVEY Do you support reducing or eliminating the use of single-use plastics in Whitby? Complete the on-line survey at www.whitby.ca 2020 Public Budget Meeting On the evening of February 18th, Town of Whitby council chambers were full, though with most of the seats occupied by the municipality's staff members. CAO Matt Gaskell and Treasurer Ken Nix opened the meeting with some comments highlighting the budget. Overall, the tax bill increase is set for 1.99%. Gaskell explained the 40% growth over the next twelve years which will bring an additional 60,000 people to Whitby. The Town is also working to maintain the over $2 billion in assets as infrastructure ages from the growth surge of the mid 1990s. Seven residents spoke before council. Michael Baker, a resident of Southshore Drive, wanted to know why there weren't more budget meetings and better communications from the Town and council throughout the year as well as why councillors weren't communicating back to him. He indicated he'd emailed local councillors without a response. Staff replied how part of this 2020 growth budget will address some of the communications shortfalls. There was also an explanation from staff regarding the 2016 KPMG Service Delivery Review report that identified 18 new hires a year for the first five years. Since the report was presented, the Town has hired less than a third of the identified positions. This was due to the corporate review and the hesitation to fill positions before understanding the exact needs for the growth. Staff indicated that should the hirings not occur, the town will be close to 30% understaffed by the time West Whitby is occupied within five years. Resident Paul Kneebone of Fallingbrook wanted to know why, if growth was good, it doesn't pay for itself. He also asked about stopping the growth. Both Mayor Mitchell and staff explained that council doesn't make the decision; growth is mandated through the province based on federal immigration which is bringing in 150,000 new residents to the GTA annually. Council will make its decision on the budget on Monday, February 24th at 5:30 pm in council chambers.